Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31952/amha.24.1.4
From France to Rijeka: The Course and Legacy of First Renal Transplantation in Yugoslavia
Adrijan Štivić
; PhD programme in History, Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia/PhD programme in International Relations, Libertas International University, Zagreb, Croatia/Director’s office, Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The article analyses the course and legacy of the first successful kidney transplantation in socialist Yugoslavia, performed in Rijeka on 30 January 1971 under the leadership of Prof. Vinko Frančišković. It is based on a combination of secondary literature, newspaper sources, and limited archival documents, thereby approaching this medical event from a historiographical perspective as well. Particular emphasis is placed on the preparations of the Rijeka medical team, which involved international cooperation, especially with France. The procedure itself, carried out as a kidney transplant from mother to son, was successful, but was accompanied by intense media attention and even a degree of professional scepticism. An analysis of archival documents from the 1970s demonstrates that this transplantation stimulated further development in transplantation medicine, while also raising broader questions regarding the organization of the healthcare system, its financing, and the status of patients undergoing dialysis.
Keywords
kidney transplantation; Rijeka; 1971; medical international cooperation; Vinko Frančišković; History of Surgery; Necker hospital
Hrčak ID:
351428
URI
Publication date:
21.9.2026.
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