The pharmaceutical family Draškoci and its social contribution to the development of the town of Svilajnac and the environment

Abstract

After the announcement of the international competition and the adoption of the Law on Pharmacies in 1865, numerous medical experts came to Serbia. The noble pharmaceutical family Draškoci moved from Slovakia to Belgrade in search of a better life in 1868. This paper aims to determine the significance and social contribution of the pharmaceutical family Draškoci to the economic and cultural life of the town of Svilajnac in the aforementioned period. Julije Draškoci opened the first pharmacy in Svilajnac on the 24 th of April 1875. After the foundation of the gymnasium in Svilajnac in 1877, he voluntarily taught for free gymnastics, physics and chemistry in that school. He was engaged in fruit and vineyard, cattle breading, and apiculture. He was the originator of mountaineering in Resava and Serbia, and the initiator of the school excursions. He was one of the founders of the Resava Savings Bank in 1885. He founded the Resava Shooting Club in 1891. Of his ten children, only his son William completed studies in pharmacy in Vienna, like him, and continued to run his father’s pharmacy until its nationalization in 1949. He participated in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. The people of Svilajnac will remember the Draškoci family for their exceptional contribution to the development of town and social life, and the pharmacist William especially for saving several of his fellow citizens from being shot during the Second World War.

U Srbiju je prispeo veliki broj medicinskih stručnjaka nakon objavljivanja međunarodnog konkursa i donošenja zakona o apotekama 1865. godine. Plemićka farmaceutska porodica Draškoci se u potrazi za boljim životom preselila 1868. godine iz Slovačke u Beograd. Cilj ovog rada je da se utvrdi značaj i društveni doprinos porodice Draškoci privrednom i kulturnom životu tadašnje varošice Svilajnca. Julije Draškoci otvorio je prvu apoteku u Svilajncu 24. aprila 1875. Po osnivanju gimnazije 1877. godine, predavao je besplatno gimnastiku, fiziku i hemiju u toj školi. Bavio se vinogradarstvom, voćarstvom, stočarstvom i pčelarstvom. Začetnik je planinarstva u Resavi i Srbiji, i inicijator đačkih ekskurzija. Bio je jedan od osnivača Resavske štedionice 1885. godine. Osnovao je Resavsko streljačko društvo 1891. godine. Od njegovo desetoro dece samo je sin Viljem završio, kao i on, studije farmacije u Beču, i nastavio da vodi apoteku svog oca sve do njene nacionalizacije 1949. godine. Viljem je bio aktivni član Gimnastičkog društva i potpredsednik Sokolskog društva. Učestvovao je u Balkanskim ratovima i u Prvom svetskom ratu. Svilajnčani će porodicu Draškoci pamtiti po izuzetnom doprinosu razvoju gradskog i društvenog života, a apotekara Vilijema posebno i po tome što je tokom Drugog svetskog rata spasio od streljanja nekoliko svojih sugrađana.