In his autobiographical memoir The Latin Kitchen, Oskar Luts vividly described his studies in pharmacy at the University of Tartu.
On Friday 8 December, the eponymous exhibition at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden will provide insights into medieval medicine, pharmacy and monasticism, and the role of pharmacies past and present.
The word 'apothecary' existed in antiquity and originally meant a wine storehouse, but later the Latin word apotheca was used to refer to several other storerooms. It is thought that in the 4th century BC this name was also used to refer to rooms for storing medicines and their ingredients. It was only centuries later that a Latin kitchen was called an apotheca.
Oskar Luts (1887-1953) was an Estonian writer and pharmacist. He worked for almost twenty years in various pharmacies: from 1903 he was a student pharmacist in Tartu and Narva, and from 1908 he worked in pharmacies in Tallinn and St Petersburg. From 1911 to 1913, he studied pharmacy at the University of Tartu, from 1911 to 1913. In his memoirs, 'The Latin Kitchen', he has written fascinatingly about his years as a pharmacist - all these phenomena, events and moods are conveyed by the author as if he were writing them down from his diary, so detailed are they in his memory. As such, these details are of great importance for understanding the spirit of the times and of people.
There have been times when pharmacy was understood as a method of curing evil spirits. Pharmacists also practised astrology and made preparations from wolf's hair ash. There was still a long way to go before the modern apothecary.
In the Middle Ages, the town pharmacist was the townsman's confidant, and the citizen his client and ward. The medieval apothecary was not only a place where medicines were made and sold, but also a very popular meeting place where townspeople chatted, listened to the news and drank a glass of wine. In the apothecary's shop, town lords and merchants met with visitors from further afield and discussed important current affairs in a friendly atmosphere. The medieval townspeople could also buy confectionery, stationery, spices, condiments, perfumes and soaps.
The number of pharmacies in Western European cities grew steadily. In Estonia, a relatively small area by world standards, two pharmacies were already operating less than two hundred kilometres apart in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania and Russia, even before over-the-counter pharmacies opened. Tallinn Raeapteek was first mentioned on 8 April 1422 - one of the oldest retail pharmacies in Europe, and one that has occupied the same premises from the very beginning. Tallinn Raeapteek is also known to be the oldest business and health care institution still operating in Tallinn. The first pharmacy in Tartu was first mentioned in 1430. Over time, the pharmacies were transformed into scientific laboratories, which laid the foundations for extensive research and production of medicines and many other chemical preparations.
The "Latin Cuisine" exhibition opens on 8 December and will remain open until 28 January. During the exhibition, Tallinn Raeapteek's products will be on sale, suitable as Christmas gifts for yourself and your loved ones: handmade marzipan, poppy tea, lavender bath salt, claret spices, ginger syrup, playing cards "Blue Cuckoo". The exhibition was curated by Žanna Politsinski, Annela Nõmmik and designed by Margot Sakson.
The exhibition can be visited during the opening hours of the greenhouse with a botanic garden ticket.
More information:
Tartu University Botanical Garden
Tel. 737 6180
