Biblioteci medicale și învățământ medical pe teritoriul românesc până la începutul secolului al XIX-lea

Abstract

There is proven evidence that libraries existed on the Romanian territories from ancient times, in manors and monasteries. Libraries, as the ones belonging to the Mavrocordat and Cantacuzino families, from the Barnovski monastery, or from the Church “Saint Nicholas” in Braşov, reveal the wish of people who had the opportunity to study in Western European countries to expand their knowledge. There are no traces of exclusive medical libraries till the 19th century, but we can find in those libraries books with medical content written in foreign languages or manuscripts translated into Romanian and Greek, following the request of the educated rich people for the benefit of their families. We can assume that when High Schools and Academies were founded in Romanian Counties in the 18th century, there was medical material preserved in written form in libraries. But, at the same time, in Western Europe, even since the XIIth Century, when medical universities were founded, written information had been considered of high importance (not to mention the period of the VIIth Century, at Salerno). The difference between us, the Romanians, and these European nations was not a matter of intellectual level, but one of the spiritual peace necessary for a cultural blossom.