KOCZIAN and KOELNEI present a history of homeopathy in Hungary between 1820 and 1990. After Hahnemann’s discovery of homeopathy, the theory found enthusiastic followers in Hungary.
A first generation of practitioners including Pal Almasi Balogh, Jozsef Bakody, and Gyoergy Forgo established successful practices although the doctrine had been banned by the Habsburg Empire in 1819.
The so-called second generation which included Ferenc Hausmann and Istvan Vezekenyi Horner had Hahnemann’s main work translated into Hungarian, and the first homeopathic hospitals were founded in 1833 and 1838.
In 1837, the order banning homeopathy was rescinded, and in 1844 the Hungarian parliamanet decided to establish a homeopathic department at the University of Pest.
In 1847, Doeme Argenti published his extraordinarily successful book ‘Homeopathic Treatment of Varius Illnesses’.
In the 1860s, a new generation of homeopathic physicians including Tihamer Almasi Balogh, Lorant Hausmann, Abraham Szontagh and others, published the first homeopathic periodicals and founded the Society of Hungarian Homeopathic Physicians.
In 1870 the homeopathic hospital, the Elisabethinum, opened, and at the University of Pest two different homeopathic departments began to operate.
At the end of the 19th century, homeopathy entered into a period of decline due to the resistance of conventional physicians and the success of conventional medicine.
Between the two World Wars, Gusztav Schimert and his circle sustained the theory and practice in Hungary. After the Second World War, Schimert emigrated, and homeopathy was informally banned in Hungary although the practice survived in secret.
It was not until 1991 that the Society of Hungarian Homeopathic Physicians was re-established.
Reference:
Koczian M, Koelnei L. History of Homeopathy in Hungary 1820 – 1991.
Orvastoerteneti Koezlemenyek 47 (1-4): 75-110, 2002.