Biography of Dr. Đorđe-Đurica Đorđević, Founder of the Clinic for Skin and Venereal Diseases in Belgrade/Biografija dr Đorđa - Đurice Đorđevića, osnivača Klinike za dermatovenerologiju i venerologiju u Beogradu

Đorđe Đorđević, a Serb from Croatia, was born in Grubišno polje (Croatia) on April 22, 1885. He studied medicine in Vienna and graduated in 1909. Till 1912, he advanced his knowledge working at dermatology clinics with Prof. Finger and Prof. Arning, as well as with Prof. Weichselbaum, professor of pathological anatomy and bacteriology. From 1912 he worked in Zagreb, at the Dermatology Department of the Brothers of Mercy Hospital, and during World War I as a military doctor at the Dermatology Department and the Zagreb Outpatient Department (Second kolodvor). After the war, in 1918, he moved to Belgrade, where he was the Head of the Polyclinic for Skin and Venereal Diseases, and in 1922 he became an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the School of Medicine in Belgrade. In the same year, he founded the Department of Dermatovenereology at the School of Medicine in Belgrade and the Clinic for Skin and Venereal Diseases, of which he was also the Head. In 1923, he became an Associate Professor, and in 1934 a Full Professor. He is given credit for passing legislation on prostitution and banning brothels.

The professional work of Prof. Đorđe Đorđević encompasses all areas of dermatology, including his special interest in experimental studies in the field of venereology. He organized medical-research trips to study people’s health status, and his teams visited the South Serbia (today Macedonia), Sandžak and Montenegro. In 1927, he founded the Dermatovenereology Section of the Serbian Medical Society (19) and the Association of Dermatovenereologists of Yugoslavia. He was the chairman of the I, II and III Yugoslav Congress of Dermatology in Belgrade, and of the II Congress of the Pan-Slavic Association of Dermatovenereologists with international participation. He was an honorary member of the Bulgarian, Czechoslovakian, Polish and Danish Dermatological Societies, as well as a regular member of the Association of French Speaking Dermatologists, and of French, German and Biology Society. He was the Vice dean of the School of Medicine.

He died suddenly on April 27, 1935, shortly after his 50th birthday, and was mourned by colleagues, friends and students.

On the first anniversary of his death, his family, friends and colleagues established a ”Foundation of Dr. Đorđe-Đurica Đorđević” meant for ”doctors and health workers”. Unfortunately, the foundation was disestablished in the early eighties of the 20th century.