Ranko Broz

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Acta clin Croat 2001; 41:73-74 Obituary73OBITUARYdisplayed to all, to the little man and to the sick in par-ticular. He was especially compassionate with the ban-ished who were turning to him not only for the treatmentbut also for comfort and encouragement to go on.Dr. Anto MatkoviÊ was born in Novo Selo nearBosanski Brod on November 7, 1943. He attended el-ementary school in his birthplace and completed general-program secondary school in Slavonski Brod in 1963.Then he enrolled in the Zagreb University School ofMedicine, where he graduated from in 1969. He com-pleted his internship at the Zagreb University HospitalCenter in Zagreb, and after military service he was ap-pointed assistant physician at Health Center in Glina, firstat the Pediatric, and then at Medical Ward. From 1972,he worked at the University Hospital for Tumors, thenCentral Institute for Tumors and Allied Diseases. Thenhe served residency in neurosurgery, first under tutorshipof Professor Guido Ledinsky, then of Professor IvanJeliËiÊ, from whom he acquired his diagnostic and surgi-cal skills. Upon completion of his residency in 1977, hebecame a neurosurgeon who was also engaged in scien-tific research. Occasionally, he held lectures at the ZagrebUniversity School of Medicine. He received additionaltraining at neurosurgery centers in Vienna, Munich andHannover, where he was introduced in the experimentalwork in neurosurgery, acquired experience in microsurgeryprocedures, and went to the very root of the problems ofneurosurgery. Together with Professor Lucijan NegovetiÊ,he was the first to introduce extracranial-intracranial ar-terial anastomosis, a preventive procedure for occlusivediseases of brain vessels, in the region. In 1975, he at-tended postgraduate studies in neurology at the ZagrebUniversity School of Medicine. In 1977, he received hismaster’s degree having defended the thesis entitled “Site-adjusted clinical course of glioblastoma of the cerebrum”,and in 1980 doctor’s degree with his doctoral dissertation“The role of lenticular striatal arteries in diagnostics andneurosurgery”. During his productive active life, Dr.MatkoviÊ published scores of scientific and professionalpapers, among them a textbook on neurosurgery for medi-Anto MatkoviÊ, M.D., Ph.D.(1943-2001)Address at Memorial Service for Anto MatkoviÊ, M.D.,Ph.D. Eulogy given by his colleague, Ranko Broz,M.D., M.S.On September 28, 2001, the noble and generous heartof Dr. Anto MatkoviÊ, our friend, colleague, capable phy-sician and neurosurgeon, humanist and patriot, stoppedforever. Cruel and premature death deprived his family oftheir father and husband, grandfather, brother and uncle,and Croatian medicine from a caring and consoling doc-tor.As the saying goes, the news on his death was ‘like abolt from the blue’. All of us, his colleagues, friends andpatients were caught breathless, unprepared and confusedwith the news on sudden death of our dear Anto. Thedistressing event only confirmed that death is not at allselective but, rephrasing our great poet Ivan GunduliÊ,sweeps carelessly away the old and the young, the slave andthe king. Dr. Anto MatkoviÊ was an outstanding person-ality and strong character, a superior, understanding andsympathetic professional who helped many give despairaway to hope. He was a man of a kind heart unsparinglyActa clin Croat 2001; 41:73-74 Obituary74 Acta clin Croat, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2002cal students. He was member of the Croatian MedicalAssociation, European and World Neurosurgery Associa-tions, and was one of the founders and renowned mem-bers of the Croatian Society of Neurosurgery.Besides his professional dedication, Anto was a de-voted patriot. Born and brought up in the Croatian fam-ily of Catholics in the presently Croat-banished BosanskaPosavina, he had always been opposed to the Communistregime. It therefore comes as no surprise that, in the ear-liest beginnings of the creation of the Croatian indepen-dent state, we saw him in the company of Dr. FranjoTuðman. He was the one among us who took part in thefamous meeting in Plje¹ivica in spring 1989, where thefoundations of today’s multi-party democratic Croatiawere laid. During the Croatian War of Independence, Dr.Anto MatkoviÊ acted director of the Dubrava UniversityHospital and kept its door wide open to all woundedCroats, irrespective of where they came from. He pulledstrings abroad and organized medical supplies for oursoldiers at frontlines. In the modest premises of the De-partment of Neurosurgery of the University Hospital forTumors, managed by Dr. MatkoviÊ, hang a number ofcertificates of merit he received for his valuable contribu-tion to the Croatian War of Independence. Taking noaccount of any possible repercussion, he was often burst-ing to help the wounded Croatia, bleeding all over up toBosnia and Herzegovina. The banishment of almost 200thousands of Croats from his native Bosanska Posavinahe took as a personal tragedy. These people knew it andcame to him for motivation and consolation.Few love their homeland as Dr. Anto MatkoviÊ lovedour Croatia. Croatia had always been on his mind and inhis heart, and no spiritual, political, economic and moral‘tumors’ our nation suffers from could have escaped histongue, as often as not sharp as a scalpel.We express our grief over Dr. Anto MatkoviÊ with ourgenuine gratitude for all his good deeds. Premature andunexpected death took him while he should still have beenproducing and enjoying fruits of his constructive and pros-perous life.On behalf of the University Hospital for Tumors, weexpress Dr. Anto MatkoviÊ our sincerest and heartiestappreciation!We mourn his loss and honor his life.We now bid him farewell, but the memory of Dr. AntoMatkoviÊ, a fine expert, caregiver, humanist and devotedpatriot, will long outlive his life.Ranko Broz

Anto Matković, M.D., Ph.D.

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