Professor Josip Grgurić, Doyen of Croatian Pediatrics, Passes Away
He devoted his entire professional life to the health, protection, and rights of children, leaving an indelible mark on Croatian medicine and society.
He devoted his entire professional life to the health, protection, and rights of children, leaving an indelible mark on Croatian medicine and society.
Croatia has lost one of its most distinguished physicians. Professor Josip Grgurić, PhD, the doyen of Croatian pediatrics, whose entire professional engagement was focused on the well-being of the youngest patients, has passed away. The news of his death was announced on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
Born in Skrad, in the Gorski Kotar region, he grew up in a family with six children. After World War II, he himself was a beneficiary of UNICEF aid, an experience that would profoundly shape his later humanitarian and professional path. He completed his medical studies in Zagreb, after which he went abroad, first to Algeria, where he worked in the area bordering the Sahara, and then to Paris.
At the prestigious children's hospital Hôpital des Enfants-Malades, he became acquainted with the concepts of social pediatrics and the humanization of child treatment, which would become the foundation of his future work.
He spent most of his career at the Zagreb Children's Hospital Clinic, where he was the long-time head of the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. He introduced numerous innovative treatment methods into Croatian medical practice. Among them, the first application of a special semi-elemental diet for children with severe infections stands out.
His contribution extends far beyond clinical medicine. He emerged as a key figure in the transformation of pediatric care in Croatia. Through his advocacy for parents to stay with their hospitalized children, the project "For a Child's Smile in the Hospital" was launched, enabling parents to be with their children during hospital stays.
Professor Grgurić was also the initiator of the national programs "Baby-Friendly Hospitals", focused on newborn protection, breastfeeding promotion, and support for mothers, and "Child-Friendly Cities and Municipalities", which encouraged the creation of environments tailored to children's needs.
He played a particularly important role during the Homeland War. As the head of the Commission for Children in War, in cooperation with UNICEF, the Croatian Red Cross, and Caritas, he organized health and humanitarian care for the youngest. Thanks to this system, no major epidemics among children broke out in Croatia during the war.
As a long-time UNICEF collaborator, Professor Grgurić was one of the most vocal advocates for the protection of children, mothers, and newborns. His life's message was that every child is an "unexplored potential whose future begins today."
His passing represents a great loss for Croatian medicine, but he leaves behind generations of physicians, numerous saved children's lives, and a care system that, thanks to his work, has become more humane and more focused on the needs of children and families.
