User:Maruska55/Eugen Strouhal

Eugen Strouhal (January 24, 1931, Prague - October 20, 2016, Prague) used the name of Evžen Strouhal in his life and publications. He was a prominent Czech anthropologist, archaeologist, physician and museum worker who contributed to the establishment of the field of paleopathology. He dealt primarily with the research of ancient Egypt. He worked at the Czechoslovak Institute of Egyptology at the Charles University (now the Czech Institute of Egyptology), subsequently in Náprstek's Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, and later at the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague. He reported to Catholic confession and promoted an ecumenical approach.

Youth and Studies
Eugen Strouhal was born in Prague to a scientific family. Both his parents were doctors. His grandfather, Vincenc Strouhal, was one of the researchers in the area of experimental physics, and his biography was also one of his last books, Professor Čeněk Strouhal, the founder of Czech experimental physics. In 1956 he graduated from Charles University in Prague, Faculty of General Medicine and three years later, Faculty of Philosophy and History.

Early career
From 1956 to 1957 he worked as a doctor in Františkovy Lázně. Then, in 1957, he joined the Biological Institute of the Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University in Pilsen, where he worked until 1960. Here began his pedagogical activity, which was very popular with students. He briefly worked in a ward of the Endocrinological Research Institute in Prague-Motol. From 1961 he became a member of the Czechoslovak Institute of Egyptology at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague, where he worked until 1968. In these years he also taught anthropology and archeology to foreign students in English and French at the University of 17th of November.

Political background
Due to the events of the Prague Spring in 1968, he was forced to enter the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia for his retention at Charles University. He refused, and decided to work in the Náprstek's Museum of Asian, African and American Culture, where he was allowed to continue his work. He served as a curator of the collections from 1969 to 1992. He contributed to the continuation of expeditions and the establishment and organisation of prehistoric and antiquity collections from the region of Egypt. He returned as a teacher to Charles University after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He began teaching at the First Faculty of Medicine at the Institute of History of Medicine and Foreign Languages in 1990 (in the same year he ended his employment at the Náprstek's Museum), since 1993 until 1998 he was the head of the institute and then honorary professor. He contributed to the rebirth of this institute, which almost disappeared during Normalisation.

Career success
He transferred a significant portion of the ancient Egyptian mummies to Náprstkovo Museum. In 1971, he organized an exhibition of the Ancient Egyptian mummies, which he studied with radiologist Luboš Vyhnánek. Based on this collaboration, the publication of Egyptian Mummies in Czechoslovak Collections was published in 1979, one of the most respected of this type. Thanks to his popularity with students, he contributed to promoting paleopathology as an individual component of the medical program. He has organized several conferences at the Medical Faculty of Charles University, such as the Conference on the History of Medicine in 1996 and the 12th Congress of the Paleopathological Association in Prague and Pilsen in 1998.

In 2004, he recovered from a serious, life-threatening illness. He subsequently decided to leave Charles University, and he was awarded the title of honorary professor for his merit. He did not stop studying and researching paleopathology.

Expeditions to Egypt
From 1961 to 1965, he repeatedly participated in expeditions to Nubia within the UNESCO program, which sought to save monuments threatened by the waters of the newly constructed Aswan Dam. Here he participated primarily in exploration of the burial grounds of the late Roman and early Byzantine times near Wadi Kitna and Kalabhi South. These expeditions inspired him to organise another series of research expeditions that took place from 1965 to 1967, exploring the population displaced from the flooded area of the Aswan High Dam.

He participated in the Czechoslovakian archaeological research in Abusir near Cairo. In 1961, 1966 and 1968, he participated directly in recovery of the Ptahpspses mastas, which is one of the largest non-royal tombs of Egypt in the 3rd millennium BC. Even after leaving the Charles University's Faculty of Philosophy in 2004, he participated in expeditions to Abusir. He also worked with the British-Dutch expedition in the northern Sakkara and with the Austrian expedition in Nyabi's Sajal.

Contribution to paleopathology
He was one of the biggest scientific capacities in this field. He co-founded the Paleopathological Association (Detroit 1982). He focused on evidence of tumor growth and research on the physical remains of ancient Egyptians, especially rulers and members of their families.

Awards

 * 1968, candidate for science
 * 1969, honorary membership of the Austrian Anthropological Society in Vienna
 * 1980, honorary membership of the Spanish Anthropological Society in Madrid
 * 1981, Hrdličkova commemorative medal
 * 1985, an honorary membership of the Swedish Anthropological Society in Stockholm
 * 1987, Michałowski's Medal
 * 1988, honorary membership of the Polish Anthropological Society in Warsaw
 * 1991, honorary membership of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna
 * 1991-1995, received awards that were rejected by the previous regime
 * 1991, Doctor of Science and Archeology at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Archeology, Warsaw University
 * 1992, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Anthropology
 * 1995, Professor of History of Medicine at the 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague
 * 1998, three medals from the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University
 * 2004, honorary professor at the Institute of History of Medicine and Foreign Languages
 * 2006, honorary membership of the Society for the History of Science and Technology in Prague