• Franjo Gruber.
• Acta Dermatovenerol Croat. 2019 Mar 1; 27 (1): 53-54.

AbstractOn December 4, 2018, death took from us and his family Professor Zdravko Periš, Croatia's oldest and most renowned living dermatovenerologist, after a long and severe illness. Professor Periš was born in Vis in 1927, after which the family moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he finished primary and secondary school. He attended the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine but spent the last semesters in Zagreb and graduated from the Zagreb University Medical School in 1955. He completed his internship in the Clinical Hospital Center of Rijeka, after which worked as a primary care physician on the island of Brač for four years. In 1960 he started his residency in dermatovenerology at the Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases in the Sušak General Hospital (in east part of the city of Rijeka), headed by professor Ante Vukas. He passed his final residency examination passed in Ljubljana in 1963. Having demonstrated his knowledge and diligence, he provided instructions to physicians specializing in occupational medicine, family medicine, and dermatovenereology, but was especially interested in allergology: he addressed problems in the terminology and introduced new techniques in the diagnosis as well as desensitization as one of therapeutic options. In 1971 he defended his doctoral thesis in Ljubljana, entitled "Tubercula mulgentium sensu strictiori after Berger" in which he described his work on this viral infection in the area of Gorski Kotar in1967, the greatest such infection seen in Europe at the time. He was appointed chief physician in 1974. In the same year he became an assistant professor of dermatovenerology at the Dental School of the Medical Faculty of Rijeka. In 1981, he became an associate professor at the same Faculty in Rijeka, and was appointed as a full professor in 1985. From 1975 to 1979 he was Vice Head of the Department of Skin and Venereal Disease at the Clinical Hospital of Rijeka/Sušak. After that, he became Head of the Department until his retirement in 1992. Professor Zdravko Periš was an excellent dermatovenerologist, a good man, and a humanist not affiliated with any political party. His professional interest was focused on a few fields: he worked on allergic skin diseases, in which he was the first to introduce the basophil degranulation test and the RAST and RIST tests in Rijeka Hospital, and investigated allergic and pseudoallergic drug reactions; he was a pioneer in the introduction of corrective dermatology in Croatia, with special emphasis on dermoabrasion of large surfaces under general anesthesia. He was also a forerunner in the study of skin alterations in patients under immunosuppressive treatment after kidney transplantation and as well as skin disorders in patients treated with dialysis. Professor Periš also investigated new treatment for viral diseases. Alone or with colleagues, he published over 70 scientific or professional papers and several chapters in dermatological books in Croatia and Slovenia, as well as reviewed some dermatological books. In his last years he wrote some papers in which he described the history of dermatology in Rijeka and Sušak. He also worked as a collaborator on scientific projects investigating the action of the environment on the skin in our region. He participated as an expert in many congresses and symposia in dermatovenerology and allergology in Croatia and abroad, including Berlin, Graz, Firenze, Leningrad, and Koln. He enjoyed working with patients, who in turn appreciated his empathy, competence, and readiness to provide good advice. With colleagues he was warm and approachable. As a teacher, he clearly presented his knowledge and way of thinking to several generations of undergraduate students of dentistry. He participated in postgraduate education courses in Rijeka (tropical, tourist, and maritime dermatology), Zagreb (allergic dermatoses, corrective dermatology), and Ljubljana. There is no doubt that he had an outstanding and successful career in professional care, research, and teaching. We are proud that our Clinic organized a symposium celebrating his 90th birthday in 2017 for his contributions to the Clinic over the 30 years he had been a part of it, and we were grateful for his participation in all the meetings of the Rijeka branch of the Croatian Dermatovenerological Society, which he attended assiduously and discussed the topics at hand with clarity and great erudition. He received several awards for his achievements in improving medical education at the Rijeka and Zagreb Medical Schools. He was a member of the Croatian Medical Association, Croatian Dermatological Society, and the Croatian Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology. In his private life, he loved his family above all: his wife Jelka who lived with him for more than 60 years, his son Zdravko and his granddaughter Nika. It was my great privilege and fortune that I had the opportunity to work with Professor Periš for a few years, and we always remained on friendly terms after his retirement. We shall always remember his kindness and respect his mastery in the care and treatment of his patients.

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