Lošinj pharmacies
Andrea Corsano, a physician originally from Naples, founded the first pharmacy in Mali Lošinj, Alla Madonna (To Our Lady), in the mid-18th century. He was succeeded by his nephew Angelo Zotti who opened a pharmacy on the ground floor of his house, behind today's fish market that was built later. At the beginning of the 19th century the pharmacy passed into the ownership of the Viviani family from Brescia and in 1879 a member of the third generation, Ottavio Viviani, moved the pharmacy to its present-day location on the waterfront. In 1897 the pharmacy was taken over by J. B. Cibei under the name Erzherzogliche Hofapotheke Zur Madonna (To Our Lady Archducal Court Pharmacy) because it supplied Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria with medication. To Our Lady Pharmacy changed several owners by the Second World War.
Apart from the aforementioned pharmacy, there was another, simply called Nuova (New), managed by Giovanni Manzolini. It is not known exactly when the pharmacy started operating; however, it was entered into the list of Istrian pharmacies in 1878. This pharmacy was taken over by Emanuele Colombis who renamed it into Al Redentore (To the Redeemer). It was located in today's Trg Republike Hrvatske (Republic of Croatia Square) No. 2. After the First World War, in addition to these two pharmacies, there was also Alla Madonna pharmacy that operated in the eponymous street in Veli Lošinj under the management of Alessandro Bartulich. The Al Redentore pharmacy was closed in 1949 when the Colombis family fled to Italy and the Zur Madonna pharmacy has maintained a kind of continuity to the present day. Narodna apoteka Mali Lošinj (Mali Lošinj Public Pharmacy), under municipal ownership, opened In the same place in 1954 and it became part of the Ljekarna Jadran medical institution in 1977. From 1998 the pharmacy is privately owned.
In 1988, the pharmacy was thoroughly redesigned, new furniture was bought on this occasion and the old one, manufactured in the late 19th century, was given away to the museum. The equipment has not been preserved in its original form but as a combination of parts from two former pharmacies (Alla Madonna from Mali Lošinj and Veli Lošinj), so the furniture is stylistically diverse. After the Second World War the parts of old furniture were incorporated to meet the needs of a new pharmacy, but even these items lack details, some have been repaired while others have reconstructed details or new elements added. Therefore, it is difficult to reconstruct the original appearance or to determine date and place of manufacture more accurately. Only a part of the aforementioned furniture is here exhibited.
The style of pharmaceutical equipment varied widely. In wide-neck vials (small glass bottles) were kept solids, while the glass bottles with a narrow neck were intended for liquids. By the same principle they were organized on shelves in alphabetical order. Substances sensitive to light were kept in small brown bottles. Vials with black labels contained toxic substances which were stored in closed cabinets. An integral part of pharmaceutical equipment were dishes for the preparation of drugs, such as measuring cups and mortar used to grind up solid chemicals , then hand-scales for precise measurement etc
