Zdenko Škrabalo (4 August 1929 – 12 January 2014) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

and diplomat and former

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

of Croatia. After finishing high school in his home town of Sombor, Škrabalo enrolled at the

University of Zagreb School of Medicine The School of Medicine ( hr, Medicinski fakultet or MEF) in Zagreb is a Croatian medical school affiliated with the University of Zagreb. It is the oldest and biggest of the four medical schools in Croatia (the other three being in Osijek, Rij ...

, and graduated in 1953, where he also received a doctorate with a thesis on disorders of

endocrine glands Endocrine glands are ductless glands of the endocrine system that secrete their products, hormones, directly into the blood. The major glands of the endocrine system include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroi ...

. He attended several seminars around Germany, and he founded the first German laboratory for the

cytopathology Cytopathology (from Greek , ''kytos'', "a hollow"; , ''pathos'', "fate, harm"; and , '' -logia'') is a branch of pathology that studies and diagnoses diseases on the cellular level. The discipline was founded by George Nicolas Papanicolaou in 1 ...

of endocrine glands. He also attended seminars at medical schools in London, Leuven, Boston and Toronto. In 1976 he became full professor at the Zagreb University School of Medicine. He was also a guest lecturer at universities in Dacca, Boston, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Valletta. He spent his career at the ''Vuk Vrhovac University Clinic'', which he founded and developed into an internationally known center for

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

, as well as a collaborative institution of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

. Škrabalo also worked for the

as an advisor to various bodies concerned with

treatment. He is notable for being the first researcher who described the parasitic disease

piroplasmosis Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or '' Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ...

in humans and his later research was concerned with

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

pathology,

andrology Andrology (from grc, ἀνήρ, ''anēr'', genitive , ''andros'', "man"; and , ''-logia'') is a name for the medical specialty that deals with male health, particularly relating to the problems of the male reproductive system and urological p ...

and diabetes. He authored over 250 research articles and is a member of numerous Croatian and international physicians' associations. He is also a member of the

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...

since 1992. Škrabalo became engaged in politics in the early 1990s, and between 1991 and 1992 he was advisor to the

President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...

Franjo Tuđman for dealing with specialised agencies of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. From 1992 to 1993 he was appointed

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, and after that he served as Croatia's ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (1993–1995). In 1995 he was awarded the honorary title of ''professor emeritus'' of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

and from 1996 to 2000 he served as ambassador to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. In 2000 Škrabalo went into retirement. His younger brother

Ivo Škrabalo Ivo Škrabalo (; 19 February 1934 – 18 September 2011) was a Croatian film critic, screenwriter, and member of parliament. Škrabalo was born in Sombor, where he finished elementary and high school before moving to Zagreb in 1952. He enrolled at ...

was also active in Croatian politics, but in the

Croatian Social Liberal Party The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...

. On 12 January 2014, he died at Zagreb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrabalo, Zdenko 1929 births 2014 deaths Croatian endocrinologists Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian diplomats Ambassadors of Croatia to Hungary Ambassadors of Croatia to Switzerland Ambassadors of Croatia to Liechtenstein School of Medicine, University of Zagreb alumni Academic staff of the University of Zagreb Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Foreign ministers of Croatia Politicians from Sombor Yugoslav endocrinologists