Radiol Oncol 1997; 31: 320-1.
In memoriam
Prof. Ludvik Tabor
Recently, we sadly witnessed the end of the life circle of Prof. Ludvik Tabor, MD, a renown radiologist, long-standing university teacher and the Chairman of the Chair of Radiology.
He was born in 1924 in Ljubljana. There he also graduated from the Faculty of Medicine. Relatively early in his career he decided to specialize in radiology, which was not very popular at the time,
and completed his residency with the board exam in 1957. His academic interests became apparent soon after he had taken on a position at the Institute of Radiology of the University Hospitals in Ljubljana, when his first professional papers started to appear in national as well as international medical journals. In 1964 he was elected into the title of an
Assistant Professor of Radiology at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana. His thesis entitled "Genital Tuberculosis in Women and the Problem of Modern X-ray Diagnostics" has become a textbook widely used by residents in radiology. In 1970 he successfully defended his Doctoral thesis "Radiological Clinical Study of Congenital Anomalies of the Spine and Potential Disability" and thus became the first radiologist with doctoral degree in Slovenia. Osteoarticular radiology remained the main field of his interest throughout his professional career. From 1960 till his retirement, he functioned as a consultant in radiology at the University Department of Orthopedics, organized radiological service and set up a rich archive of radiograms. In 1974 he was elected Associate Professor and in 1978 Professor of Radiology at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana. In the academic years 1977-78 and 1978/79, he was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and from 1981 all until his retirement in 1993 - i.e. for full thirteen years - Chairman of the Chair of Radiology. As a university teacher and lecturer he contributed to the education of several generations of medical and stomatology students, as well as of those attending the Junior College of Health Professionals, Department for Radiology Technicians, in Ljubljana. Here, his outstanding role as mentor to residents in radiology, particularly in the field of osteoarticular orthopedics, deserves to be pointed out.
He upgraded his knowledge in several foreign institutions, such as Cochin Hospital in Paris, Department of Orthopedics at St.Gallen Canton Hospital in Ziirich, and the institutes of radiology in Bonn and Tiibingen.
The main field of his interest was radiological diagnostics of osteoarticular disorders, particularly in the fields of orthopedics, hematology, injuries and radiology in gynecology and stomatology. His bibliography comprises 131 contributions that have been published in national and international journals, as well as 14 scientific research studies. He published three books independently, and two in
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collaboration with other authors. He took active part as an organizer and speaker at numerous congresses and meetings of radiologists, orthopedists and traumatologists in the country as well as in different European centers and worldwide.
Prof.Dr. Ludvik Tabor played an active role in the establishment of the Institute of Radiology of the University Medical Center in Ljubljana, as well as through all the phases of its development, until this institution became the leading radiological center in the country. In 1976, in collaboration with Italian colleagues, he established an Alps-Adria community which resulted in regular annual meetings of radiologists from Italy, Austria and Slovenia. He was one of the founding members of the journal "Radiología lugoslavica", and the Editor-in-Chief of the same in years 1976-1981. In the period 1958-1969, lie was the President of the Section of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine of the Slovenian Medical Association. Apart from that, he was a long standing Secretary General of the Society of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine of Yugoslavia.
He was a member of the International Society of Lymphology, European and International Society of Radiology, member of the Slovenian Medical Association (SZD), member of the Section of Radiology of SZD, member of the Association of Radiologists of Yugoslavia, member of the Society of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Yugoslavia, and an honorary member of the Society of registered radiology technicians of Yugoslavia.
He received several awards: Golden Plaque of the Association of Medical Societies of Yugoslavia (1971), Award of the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana (1978), Silver Plaque of the Society of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Yugoslavia (1978), Medal of Work with Golden Wreath (1980), Golden Plaque of the Society of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Yugoslavia (1981), Plaque of the Association of Radiologists of Yugoslavia (1988), and Award of the University Department of Orthopedics in Ljubljana (1993).
This outline of Professor Tabor's active life would not have been complete, had it contained only the description of his rich professional career and ignored yet another very important field of his interest - painting, which was becoming more and more important part of his life as he grew older. His huge opus of water-paintings was partly exhibited at 23 independent and 30 group exhibitions. Perhaps, through painting he managed to free himself of all the restrictions which a successful medical career
imposes on those in pursuit of it. As if in nature and colors of his water paintings he would hope to find a recuperation for the years spent amidst all shades of gray and black which befit radiologists profession. His attitude to nature and art is best reflected in the words that he wrote: "Art is a free recording of the vastness of spiritual awareness and sensation of what nature is offering to us so generously. Can there be anything more attractive than a record of life's credit to nature, a record that makes use of the kaleidoscope of light and shadows of something felt and seen through personal experience, a record of the eternally present rhythm of nature! Faced with the modern consumers society which hopes to find happiness in piling material goods and momentary enjoyments, incapable of sharing the inner joy of those who can think and act differently, there is nothing left but the possibility of retreat to what nature still has in store to offer. Some people find it difficult to understand that nowadays more and more people of different profession dedicate their free time to painting or some other arts. The answer is quite simple: In view of everything that modern civilization with its hectic daily routine not only offers but directly imposes on us, the art represents an asylum where we can again collect and put in order the bits of our shattered souls. To man, arts and nature offer a promise and chance that in the time such as ours he does not sink but survives and maintains his human dignity."
When in 1993 he decided to retire, he was still full of plans for future. But unfortunately, the merciless and long-lasting disease which he had learnt to live with and successfully fight for years, finally put an end to his planning and made him admit that he lost the battle.
It was with great sadness that we parted with Professor Tabor. We remember him with due respect. We, the Slovene radiologists, are truly obliged to him for everything that he did for out profession and Slovenian medicine in generally. He will stay in everyone's memory as a renown and highly respected expert, a teacher to many generations of radiologists and radiographers, and last but not least, as an artist and great admirer of nature and arts.
Prof. Vladimir Jevtič, MD, Institute of Radiology
University Medical Center Zaloška 7 1525 Ljubljana