Јоsif Holec ( sr-Cyrl, Јосиф Холец, 1835–1898) was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

and a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

in the Serbian Army, one of the founders of the Serbian Medical Society in 1873. He was the Chief of the Military Medical Academy of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

from 1882 to 1884.

Life and career

Born in 1835 in

Tuřice Tuřice is a municipality and village in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Administrative parts The village of Sobětuchy is an administrative part of Tuřice. Etymology ...

in Bohemia, Josif Holec first studied medicine in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and then in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He graduated with a

doctor of medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degre ...

degree. In 1861 he became a surgeon and an

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surg ...

. He moved to Serbia, where he was employed as a district physician in Paraćin, and sometime later in

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, ...

. From 1866 he practiced as a physician in the Internal Department of the Belgrade

Military Hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

, and in 1873 he was promoted to manager of the Central Military Hospital in Belgrade. Among his many duties were preparing laws and regulations for the military medical corps with his professional colleagues

Lazar Dokić Lazar Dokić (Serbian Cyrillic: Лазар Докић; 27 September 1845 – 13 December 1893) was a Serbian doctor, professor of anatomy, politician, academic and a tutor to king Alexander Obrenović. He served as Prime Minister of the Kingdo ...

and Filip Tajšić in case of war. Later, he joined the medical team of Medical Corps Major Stefan Nedok, the first head of the Internal Department of the Belgrade Military Hospital and the chief of Medical Services of Division and Corps in the Serbian-Turkish wars. Also, he took part in Serbian-Turkish Wars of 1876 to 1878 and in 1885 he was at the

battlefront In a military context, the term front can have several meanings. According to official US Department of Defense and NATO definitions, a front can be "the line of contact of two opposing forces."Leonard, B. (2011). Department of Defense Diction ...

in the Serbian-Bulgarian War, performing important duties as head of the medical corps of the Drina Division under the command of General Milutin Jovanović. He died in Belgrade in 1898 at the age of 62.

Work

As a prominent medical officer, he was a permanent member of the First Military Medical Committee. He is one of the founders of the Serbian Medical Society.

Acknowledgments

For his work, Josif Holec was awarded

Order of the Cross of Takovo The Order of the Cross of Takovo was a Serbian state order. History It was instituted in the Principality of Serbia in 1865 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire, which had started in Takovo, S ...

and numerous other decorations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holec, Josif 1835 births 1898 deaths Military personnel from Belgrade Serbian military doctors Physicians from Belgrade Serbian military leaders