University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest

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Since 1787, the first academic year of Hungarian veterinary education, anatomy has been a major subject within the curriculum. At the beginnings, professors had to teach in more than one of field therefore, it was not until after the appointment in 1845 of Alajos Szabó, a medical doctor and trained anatomist, that a department was instituted for veterinary anatomy and physiology. Due to the rapid expansion of knowledge, the two subjects were separated in 1887. A Department of Anatomy was organized and led by Béla Nádaskay who, as a medical and veterinary doctor, founded the reputation of veterinary anatomy among the recognized fields of science. This standing has further been strengthened by his successor, Ágoston Zimmermann who during his long carreer held several high academic and public positions, and as a prolific author of textbooks became a leading figure of his field. In the meanwhile, the teaching of histology and embryology has also been incorporated into the curriculum. Zimmermann’s successors in the chair of the department were Gyula Kovács (1947), György Fehér (1967) and Ferenc Hajós (1987). Since 2001 Péter Sótonyi is the head of the department which is now called Department of Anatomy and Histology.