[Dr. Ivo Sercer--a forgotten Croatian ophthalmologist] ]

Dr Ivo Sercer (Rakovac near Karlovac, 1892--Zagreb, 1959) graduated medical studies in Graz (1915) and specialized in ophthalmology. In April 1919 he was appointed head of the ophthalmology department of the City hospital in Subotica, where he worked until his death. Backa, a region spreading between the Danube and the Tisa, was one of Europe's major trachoma focal points and Subotica had an eye hospital ever since 1868. In that city a big City hospital with the medical, surgical and ophthalmological departments opened in 1897, and there Dr Sercer was very actively engaged. In addition to his hospital work Dr Sercer also ran a private practice, treated children in the Home for trachomatous children and worked as school clinic and health insurance ophthalmologist implementing the socio-medical programme for fighting trachoma devised by Dr Andrija Stampar. Regretfully, working outside the strict borders of his native country Dr Sercer has not received due recognition in the history of ophthalmology in Croatia.