Valjevo’s medical doctor Jovan Siber and pharmacist Klaudije Prikelmajer: A historical illustration of the role of immigrants from Slavonia to the development of health care in Serbia

In a short period of the late 1860s, three significant new institutions were founded in Valjevo: the hospital (1867), the grammar school (1869) and the pharmacy (1870). In the early stages of development of all three institutions, a big role was played by immigrants from Slavonia: medical doctor Jovan Sieber, pharmacist Klaudije Prikelmajer, and professor Đuro Kozarac. This paper aims to clarify the connections between these individuals that caused their relocation from the territories of the Habsburg Monarchy to Serbia and Valjevo, as well as to resolve the confusion caused by imprecise family memories and written chronicles that have been collected. Moreover, this paper additionally focuses on the origins of the Sieber family, which included Jovan Sieber, and the later arrival of other members of the family to Valjevo. Another member of the family was Jovan’s nephew Dr. Stevan Sieber, father of Dr. Đorđe Sieber, who went on to become a general in the Medical Corps of the Royal Yugoslav Army.