[Analysis of the literary legacy of Professor Josef Charvát]

The literary inheritance of Professor Joseph Charvát (1897-1984) consists of 10 monographs and 545 other titles, some of which have not appeared in the public press. The author himself arranged his original papers written in Czech as well as other European languages, reviews, essays on health education, publicistic discourses and Varia chronologically from 1922 till 1981. His literary inheritance reflects the history of the Czech internal medicine, the Czech medical faculty of Charles University in Prague and the Czech society and illustrates the broad field of interests of the author. As a disciple of Joseph Pelnár, he was a broadly oriented internist and a classic of the Czech academic medicine. He is recognized as the founder of Czechoslovak endocrinology and one of the founders of behavioural medicine (21). He was interested in medical education (12) and promotion of clinical science and research. He predicted the significance of biocybernetics, clinical genetics and social medicine and public health for the further development of health sciences. His literary inheritance reflects his civic responsibility, courage and authority he enjoyed in the Czech society during the Thirties, the Forties and the Sixties. His work gives evidence of his activities in the World Health Organization and on Economic and Social Council of the Advisory Committee of United Nations, concerning the application of science and technology to the general world development (13, 14, 15, 16). Professor Joseph Charvát's inheritance has not only historical relevance as it contains specific entities, such as holistic approach to medicine, science, men and human society, which should be rediscovered in the present time. Important is also his warning that the progress of humanistic subjects in medicine lags behind the advances in natural science and technology. Professor Charvát offers an interesting concept of creativity. His mastery of communication and his ethical reflexion on scientific knowledge in natural sciences are of lasting value. The dominant principle of his attitude toward problem solving, in medicine and in the society as well, is a positive feedback concept.