Original scientific paper
Fran Gundrum’s Contribution to Solving the Healthcare Issues of the Nomadic Romani Population
Danijel Vojak
orcid.org/0000-0003-2545-2225
; Institute of Social Scientes Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Fran Srećko Gundrum of Oriovac (1856–1919) was a prominent medical worker and an intellectual from Križevci. Several months before the outbreak of World War I, he wrote an article “Cigani i inostranci nestalna boravišta” (Gypsies and foreigners without permanent residences), which was published in Liječnički vjesnik. In that article, he warned about the health issues the Romani population faced. He focused on the issue of the health system’s attitude towards the Romani people, emphasising that out of ignorance, the Romani refused vaccinations and revaccinations against infectious diseases, particularly smallpox. Based on such analysis of the health issues faced by the nomadic Romani population, he suggested measures related to their healthcare. Gundrum believed that better health control of the Romani population would prevent the emergence and spread of epidemics. He advocated for the preventive vaccination of the Romani people, being a part of the population that was at health risks. That was accepted by the authorities of Ban’s Croatia (Banska Hrvatska), who included that provision in the special law on Romani population in August 1916. This article analyses Gundrum’s contribution to solving health issues among the Romani population in Ban’s Croatia (Banska Hrvatska) shortly before and during World War I.
Keywords
Fran Srećko Gundrum; Romani; Ban’s Croatia; Križevci; healthcare
Hrčak ID:
256015
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2020.
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