Dear Colleague,
As the sole institution in Hungary providing internationally recognized veterinary education, we have always taken special care to commemorate our great figures, as our 237-year-old university has contributed a whole array of esteemed educators and researchers to the science of veterinary medicine in Hungary and the world. It has become a tradition for us to unveil a statue each year in honour of our predecessors, who set examples for us and future generations through their work and lives.
Dr József Hoffner (1794–1841)
Medical doctor, veterinarian, university professor, correspondence member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Institute at the Faculty of Medicine of Pest University from 1826 to 1841. He advocated for the introduction of Hungarian-language education and lectures at the veterinary school, delivering his opening speech in Hungarian, despite causing some controversy among his peers.
Hoffner was born on March 25, 1794, in Veszprém, where he completed his secondary education before serving as a clerk in the estate of the Győr Diocese from 1810 to 1814. He studied philosophy at Pest University until 1816, and medicine until 1818. He continued his studies in Vienna, where he received his medical doctorate in 1822 and later obtained a veterinary diploma. From February 9, 1823, he worked as an assistant at the Veterinary Institute in Vienna, teaching “animal surgery” and forensic veterinary science until 1825. After the death of Román Brunkala, on June 2, 1826, he was appointed director of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Institute at the Faculty of Medicine of Pest University. He was elected as a corresponding member of the Royal Hungarian Academy of Sciences on March 9, 1832. He continued to lecture at the university until 1840, and after a prolonged illness, he died of tuberculosis on February 16, 1841. He left his estate to educate poor children.
As a patriot, Hoffner was a staunch advocate for Hungarian veterinary science and fought for independent veterinary education. Alongside his support for Hungarian-language education, he worked on disseminating Hungarian technical terms, following the principles of Pál Bugát. He participated in collecting material for the medical-natural science glossary of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He translated the works of Konstantin Balassa, Konrád Schwab, and Seyfert von Tennecker into Hungarian and gave Hungarian names to the subjects he taught. As a result of his efforts, veterinary higher education began to develop despite various difficulties, with improvements in the content and scope of the hippiatric course, as well as enhancements in facilities, equipment, and assistance.
If you would like to support the creation of the statue in alignment with the initiative of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, please contribute as you see fit, so that we may create a fitting memorial for József Hoffner.
You can make your donation by transferring funds to our foundation’s bank account, the necessary information for which is as follows:
Foundation Name: EQUUSVET Student Cultural and Social Foundation
Foundation Bank Account: OTP Bank 11707024 – 20437925
Please include “Dr. Hoffner József statue” in the description field.
We thank you for your generous donation and look forward to welcoming you to the statue’s ceremonial unveiling planned for September, for which we will send further notification in due course.
Sincerely,
Dr. Péter Sótonyi
Rector