Journey through the past: An ‘Historic’ day at EAU25
The EAU History Office had a full schedule on the second day of EAU25 in Madrid, starting with its biannual Board Meeting to discuss ongoing projects, publications and activities. Major changes to the board’s structure and composition were finalised, and a start was made on the introduction of a new series of publications more closely tied to the history of specific subspecialties within urology. The Office hopes to announce more on these developments soon.
The afternoon started with Abstract Session 11, ‘History of Urology’, where abstracts on a great variety of historical-urological topics were presented. With the congress in Madrid, there was special attention for Spanish topics, from the earliest urological writings of Arabic Andalusia, courtesy of Dr. Achraf Chatar (Meknes, MA) to an overview of the honorary founders of the Spanish Urological Association by Dr. Juliusz Szczesniewski (Getafe, ES).
Presentations from the History of Urology Abstract session usually offer a treasure trove of potential contributions to de Historia Urologiae Europaeae, the 32nd volume of which was presented in Madrid and collected by EAU Members, along with the special publication Human Fertility and Infertility. Be sure to stop by the EAU Square (G68) and collect your publications while stocks last!
Historical Exhibition
The EAU Square is precisely where the History Office members and other interested parties from the audience headed at the end of the Abstract Session. The Historical Exhibition, which was completely redesigned as part of the wider renovation of the EAU’s presence in the Exhibition features a selection of unique and suitably ancient items (some as old as 20 millennia!) related to urology in Spain, the urological conditions of Spanish royalty, this year’s Desnos Prize Winner Prof. Rathert and the aforementioned special congress publication.
The Historical Exhibition features a QR-code activated audio tour, and clue hunters can also take part in the Historical Exhibition quiz. Visit the booth (G68), find the answers, submit the online form and you will enter a draw to win a fantastic prize. You can take part until Sunday, March 23rd, 12:00. (text continues below photo)
Special Session
Later in the afternoon, the historical scientific programme continued with the Thematic Session “Urological pearls in the history of Spanish urology”. Through four in-depth presentations, the audience was transported back to the times of the earliest Visigoth scholars, the birth of modern urology in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the ‘Spanish masters’ of the mid 20th century and finally, an attempt at “cold case” diagnosis of the possible urological problems of the Spanish Habsburg rulers courtesy of Prof. Philip Van Kerrebroeck.
From EAU26 on, Historical lectures will no longer be featured in a dedicated Thematic Session, but individual speakers will be added to certain plenary sessions to offer a historical perspective on the topic at hand, with the added advantage of hopefully reaching a larger audience.