“For aging not passively endured, but actively experienced:” on Symposium on Gerontology from 1958

The subjects of gerontology and geriatrics did not arouse stronger interest among Croatian scholars until the second half of the twentieth century. From 1952 to 1957, a number of Croatian medical experts gave lectures on gerontology at the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. Based on these lectures, in 1958 the Academy published the first book on gerontology in Croatia under the title Symposium on Gerontology. Its editor was Franjo Kogoj, a dermatovenereologist and a Fellow of the Academy (1894-1983). In this article, we focused on the contents of Symposium, namely, on the discussions about geriatric terminology, theories of aging, epistemological issues in gerontology, as well as clinical experiences with older patients. We argue that Symposium marks the beginning of a synthetic and interdisciplinary approach to gerontology in Croatia.