Béla Merkely, rector of Semmelweis University, gave a welcome address at the screening held on Thursday local time in the library of the medical faculty of the leading American university. In his statement to MTI, the Széchenyi Prize-winning cardiologist emphasized that the medical discovery of Ignác Semmelweis is also recognized at Harvard University.
The screening took place in two halls in parallel
He also drew attention to a parallel, according to which an important medical innovation was achieved at Harvard University’s Faculty of Medicine in 1846, when the first ether narcosis was performed, while Semmelweis proved the importance of chlorine disinfection in the prevention of surgical infections a year later. The rector also reported that there is active scientific and educational cooperation between Semmelweis University and Harvard University’s Faculty of Medicine. Péter Gloviczki, a physician and vascular surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, who completed his studies at Semmelweis University and is also an honorary doctor of the institution, gave a speech at the film screening.
Csenge Palotai, the director of the Liszt Institute in New York, which organized the event, reported that there was so much interest in the film that the screening was held in parallel in two halls.
The Semmelweis film will be screened in several American cities
The director reminded that the Semmelweis film had its world premiere last October in New York, in the presence of several senior UN officials and ambassadors. The work, directed by Lajos Koltai, was also presented at a film festival in Los Angeles in the fall, where it won several awards. The New York presentation was held near the east coast city’s film production base, in the large hall of the Museum of the Moving Image, in the presence of director Lajos Koltai and Minister of Culture and Innovation János Csák, before the presentation in Hungary.
According to the plans, the Hungarian movie will be screened in other American cities in 2024, including Houston, a large Texas city known for its medical research facilities.
