Acta Dermatovenerol APA
Acta Dermatovenerologica
Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica
20I6;25:6I
doi: 10.15570/actaapa.2016.18
In Memoriam: Marija Berčič, 1928-2016
Our beloved teacher, mentor, and colleague of many years, Marija "Mojca" Berčič, passed away on September 3rd, 2016.
Mojca was born on April 14th, 1928 in Črna na Koroškem, where she also attended primary school. She started attending secondary school in Ptuj and then transferred to a school in Klagenfurt during the Second World War, before finally graduating from the classical secondary school in Maribor.
She graduated from the Ljubljana Medical School and passed her board exam in dermatology and venereal diseases at the Ljubljana Department of Dermatology.
Mojca spent her entire career working at the Maribor General Hospital's Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases. After passing her board exam, she became head of the pediatric department as well as the newly established histopathology laboratory.
She received further training in dermatopathology under Vladimir Milavec at the Ljubljana Department of Dermatology and Venereal Diseases, under Zvonimir Zambal at the Zagreb Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases, and under Albert Bernard Ackerman in New York. In 1986, she defended her doctoral dissertation at the Zagreb Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases.
Mojca attended research conferences in Slovenia and abroad, advised a number of residents, and also taught at the Medical College for many years. She contributed to Milan Betetto and Janez Fettich's textbook for medical and stomatology students, Mala Dermatovenerologija (Pocket Dermatology), which was published
in 1993.
In addition to conducting research and practicing medicine, Mojca also performed many other functions: she joined the Slovenian Medical Association (SZD) in 1953 and its Section for Derma-
tology and Venereal Diseases in 1958, became the first secretary of the SZD's Medical and Historical Section (headquartered in Maribor) in 1968 and a close associate of its chairman, chief physician Eman Pertl, was the chair of the executive committee of the SZD's Section for Dermatology and Venereal Diseases from 1980 to 1984, was a member of the executive committee of the Yugoslav Association for Dermatology and Venereal Diseases from 1980 to 1991, started serving as the co-editor of the journal Acta dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica in 1992, was a member of the Austrian Association of Dermatologists, and was a member of the International Society of Dermatopathology.
With her expertise, organizational skills, teaching efforts, journalism activity, and extensive research, Mojca contributed significantly to the development of our department and to Slovenian dermatology in general. She was awarded the rank of honorary chief physician for the latter.
Even after she retired, she continued to maintain contact with the profession, participated in our research conferences, and worked assiduously for the Medical and Historical Section, contributing significantly to its development. The committee of the SZD's Medical and Historical Section made her an honorary member.
We are grateful to our respected colleague and mentor for all the efforts she invested in the development of dermatology in Maribor and in Slovenia in general.
Mojca will be remembered forever by the members of the editorial board of ACTA dermatovenerologica, the ZSD, and its Medical Historical Section.
Jovan Miljkovic
6i