IALP News

and lead the Phoniatric Division of the ENT Clinic at the Cantonal Hospital in Lucerne. In the early sixties, Prof. R. Luchsinger, MD, a Swiss phoniatrician of world reputation, former president of IALP and co-founder of Folia Phoniatrica , had substantially reduced his professional activities. Only a few enthusiastic Swiss ENT specialists treated phoniatric cases at the time. Thus, the new Phoniatric Department in Lucerne was for years the only specialized phoniatric service in Switzerland working full time. H. Zwahlen, MD, H.-L. Giger, MD, Prof. J. Sopko, MD, A. Sommerhalder, MD, and V. Schweizer, MD, started their postgraduate phoniatric training in Lucerne and offered their support for three international symposia and numerous postgraduate courses. Twenty-five Swiss speech therapists received their clinical training in Lucerne. In 1968, Prof. Vrtička started lecturing at the University of Fribourg, where he introduced ‘Physiology and Pathophysiology of Verbal Communication’ to hundreds of speech therapists. Dr. Sopko worked with Prof. Vrtička in the years 1974 and 1975 in his Phoniatric Division and accompanied him to his lectures and to international congresses. Together, they presented and published a text on spasmodic dysphonia. Since then, they have remained connected by a close professional and friendly relationship ( fig. 1 ). Prof. Vrtička, with his collaborators, published more than 90 scientific articles. They performed the very first CT of the pseudoglottis in laryngectomees and the first clinically relevant CT study of velopharyngeal closure. By proving the identity of the Sedláčková (1955) and Shprintzen (1978) syndromes, Prof. Vrtička highlighted the world priority of his former teacher. The musical tradition of his native country inspired him to numerous texts on the relation of speech and music. He also wrote 80 popular articles covering the whole field of phoniatrics. Prof. Vrtička is a founder member and honorary member of the Swiss Phoniatric Society and member of the Swiss ENT Society. As individual member of IALP, European Union of Phoniatricians, Société Française de Phoniatrie and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachund Stimmheilkunde, he gave several main lectures and numerous communications at their congresses and at the ‘Stuttgarter Stimmtage’. He was also invited to present a voice seminary at the 1977 convention of the American Speech and Hearing Association in San Francisco. Prof. Vrtička celebrates his 80th anniversary. For the second half of his life, he has been living in Switzerland. Though retired, he has still been continuing his scientific work. As the highly appreciated former president of IALP, A. Muller, MD suspended his professional activities, Prof. Vrtička has become the present-day doyen of Swiss phoniatricians. We are grateful to Prof. Vrtička for never having denied his Czech roots. He has always declared himself a scholar of Prof. SeeThis ‘IALP News’ comprises: (1) 80th anniversary of Prof. Karel Vrtička, (2) obituary for Prof. Aatto Sonninen, (3) introduction of a new Affiliate Society to IALP – the Slovenian Association of Logopedics (SAL), and (4) report about the World Voice Day in Russia.