Charles Kanka

* Modor, October 17, 1817 – † Bratislava, January 20, 1908 / doctor, ophthalmologist ; ; His father, Dániel Kanka, was a theological teacher and was transferred from Selmecbánya to Modor in 1817, where his son Károly was born. In 1822, the family settled in Vienna, where Dániel Kanka became a teacher at the theological academy. Although Károly Kanka attended German schools, he was raised in a Hungarian spirit at home. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna and, after obtaining his degree, chose ophthalmology as his narrower field of expertise. His teacher was Anton von Rosas (1791–1855), with whom Ignác Semmelweis also got into a dispute. Kanka worked in Vienna between 1842 and 1848. During the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848/49, he was first the chief physician of the Transdanubian National Guard stationed in Komárom, and then, following the government heading towards Debrecen, he appeared in Nagyvárad, around Szeged or in Arad. After the fall, he escaped his participation in the fighting without any particular injury, as he was confined exclusively to medical activities. In 1850, he was appointed national ophthalmologist. This assignment involved a lot of travel, since the specialist medical order in the modern sense simply did not exist, but the “specialist” wandered from place to place to examine and treat patients. He came to Bratislava in 1854, and in 1856 he was appointed head of the eye hospital to be established. The institution was built in eight years and began operating in 1864 as the Bratislava National Hospital. Kanka's professional preparation and knowledge were highly appreciated not only by his patients, but also by his colleagues. He put the experience he gained at the Vienna clinic and as a traveling ophthalmologist to good use in Bratislava. He further developed his cataract surgery technique and achieved success in the treatment of glaucoma. He headed the ophthalmology department until 1898, when he was 81 years old, but in the meantime he was also the director of the Bratislava hospital between 1882 and 1892. He also gladly took on a public role. In 1856, he was one of the founders and an active lecturer for decades at the Bratislava Natural Sciences Society. Kanka edited the lectures of the 9th traveling assembly of Hungarian Doctors and Naturalists held in Bratislava in 1865 for publication. ; ; Works: ; Beschreibung der für sämmtliche Augen-operationen nothwendigen Instrumente mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die an der k. Wiener Augenklinik gebräuchlichen, Vienna, 1842.