[Smallpox vaccination in Koper district in 1830s]

In the context of preventive measures against smallpox, this paper deals with some examples of vaccination which was carried out in the Koper district in the first half of the 19th century with special emphasis on general revaccination (1833) and vaccination of children (1835) which were promoted by the district physician Gian Andrea de Manzoni. In the time of his duty, the vaccination was regularly carried out in the town of Koper as well as in its surrounding, mostly rural localities within the district. Besides that, the revaccination of children and adults took place in case of the direct threat of the disease. With the analysis of existing nominative registers of the vaccinated, which are here discussed for the first time, a statistical research dealing with the vaccinated population structure by age and social status is being proposed, together with some starting points for reflection on the range and effect of these preventive measures. However, the author confronts some difficulties in the quantitative contextualization of the vaccinated within the present population of the area. Finally, some remaining questions regard also the mechanisms for persuading the population into the vaccination and the influence of the common attitude towards this practice on its actual range.