Medical Captain 1st class, dr. Radoslav Lopašić

BalkanCollector · October 5, 2019

Dr. Radoslav Lopašić was born in 1896 in Požega (died in 1979 in Zagreb), Austria-Hungary (now Croatia). In 1914 he enrolled at Innsbruck Medical University and graduated in 1921 in Prague. After the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, Lopašić was arrested and later in 1915 mobilised in the KuK. He was heavily wounded on the Eastern Front in the Brusilov Offensive in 1916. After recovery he continued with his studies but was again sent to Albania to fight within the Bosnian unit of the KuK. He was an assistant of the Battalion's medic. The end of the war had caught him with the rank of Lieutenant at the hospital for infectious diseases in Koprivnica, Croatia.

After the Great War he had worked in various hospitals in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and eventually became one of the most recognized neuropsychiatrists. He was even a personal psychiatrist of the Yugoslav royal family.

During the Second World War, with the creation of Independent State of Croatia he was removed from his scientific positions because a newly formed fascist regime didn't like him.

After the Second World War, he was a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (today Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts), a very prestigious Academy with a membership of only a few hundred members.

Also he is from a famous family Lopašić from Karlovac, Croatia. They were well respected in various scientific fields and the most famous of them all was historian dr. Radoslav Lopašić (1830-1893), a great-uncle of dr. Radoslav Lopašić (1896-1979). He was also a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts and a few streets in Croatia bear his name today.

I have a few photographs of dr. Radoslav Lopašić (1896-1979) and I would like to share them.

The first photo and the reason why I've made this topic is a photograph of him as a medical Captain 1st class in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He is wearing an unusual combination of medals.

- Order of the Yugoslav Crown 4th or 5th class

- Order of Saint Sava 4th or 5th class

- Order of Polonia Restituta 4th class

- Order of the White Lion of Czechoslovakia 4th or 5th class

BalkanCollector · October 5, 2019

The article in newspaper Pravda from April 13th 1930 where it is mentioned that a number of Yugoslav medical personnel among of which was dr. Radoslav Lopašić were awarded with various Polish awards.

dr. Radoslav Lopašić, Order of Polonia Restituta (Officer's Cross)

1804342276_Pravda13.4_1930..jpeg.60a121859a405e63afa27a6d076caa2d.jpeg

BalkanCollector · October 5, 2019

The other photos I have aren't related to military but I'd still like to share them. I especially like this one since it's from the Sokol organization and it is signed by Lopašić.