Medical Surgeon Antal Pfenningsdorf, basic figure of 19th century surgeons’ training in Cluj-Napoca

At the Medical-Surgical Institute of Cluj (established in 1775), a position of assistant professor was created in 1792. The third person appointed to this post, in 1817, was Antal Pfenningsdorf (1786–1871), a master surgeon and obstetrician. He served the institute for 42 years, until his retirement in 1859. During this period, he acted as deputy professor for 17 years. Among his duties was the training of midwives in Hungarian, Romanian, and German. Descended from a German family of Târgu Mureş, he studied surgery in Cluj and Vienna. He became a highly respected surgeon in the city. As second physician at the Carolina State Hospital, he performed high-risk surgical procedures and also served as the family physician of several prominent families. As one of the town’s most respected citizens, he purchased an elegant house on the main street, was elected to the town council, and donated funds both for the maintenance of the Central Park of Cluj and for the demolition of several dilapidated houses surrounding the main church. He was among the founders of the “Kolozsvári Casino” (Club) in 1833 and later served as a member of its board. In 1845, he was elected a member of the Royal Hungarian Society of Natural History in Pest. In 1859, he became one of the founders of the Transylvanian Museum Society, to which he bequeathed his valuable rock collection. His adopted son, Sándor Pfenningsdorf, was among the senior officers of the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849 and, in 1850, was sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment. He was released on a pardon six years later, physically and emotionally broken. In 1858, Pfenningsdorf and his wife, Anna Czikéli, established a foundation to support graduating surgical students: the Pfenningsdorfiana Fundatio. The administration and awarding of the fund remained under the authority of the Faculty of Medicine of the University until 1919.