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The teaching of food chemistry and technology has a long-standing tradition in the Czech lands, which is closely linked with the teaching of chemistry and chemical technology. It was in Prague where food chemistry was introduced as an independent university subject for the first time in the world in 1806. Shortly after chemistry began to be taught on a university level, Professor Steinmann expanded his lectures with instruction in agricultural and fermentation chemistry, and in the technology of brewing, vinegar manufacture and wine distillation. In the 1830s, Professor Balling added lectures on sugar manufacture and its refining, in response to the rapid expansion of the sugar production of beet. After the split of the Royal Czech Polytechnic Institute into two entirely independent Czech and German schools in 1869, instruction in food chemistry and technology concentrated primarily at the Czech Polytechnic. Professor Štolba lectured on a broad range of chemical and technological subjects, with food technology accounting for about a half of his lectures. Professor Bělohoubek, a leading brewery expert, taught fermentation and agricultural chemistry, and later also technical microscopy as independent subjects. He founded an independent Czech malting (brewing) school and participated in the formation of the Brewing Research Institute. In the field of sugar manufacture, Professor Štolba was succeeded by Professor Preis and later also Professor Anderlík. Distinguished professors who taught food chemistry and technology at Czech universities at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century included Professor Hanuš (food analysis, fat and oil chemistry and technology), Professor Laxa (dairy production), Professor Votoček (organic chemistry), Professor Wald (physical chemistry), Professor Stoklasa (biochemistry, cereals chemistry and technology), and others. At the beginning of the 1920s, an autonomous School of Chemical and Technological Engineering was established within the Czech Technical University in Prague to further enhance instruction in chemistry, analysis and food technology. Food chemistry and technology were also taught at the Technical University in Brno, among others by Professor Veselý, a leading expert on fat technology. Instruction in food-related fields was provided at the Agricultural University both in Prague and in Brno, and at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Brno. The formation of the Faculty of Food Technology at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague in 1952 was preceded by a process which followed up the tradition and standard of both the food industry and university teaching in the Czech lands. An unprecedented expansion and concentration of food production, including fields which had formerly existed merely as separate trades, occurred after 1945. The teaching of food chemistry and technology was scattered at several universities. The School of Chemical and Technological Engineering (ICTE), part of the Czech Technical University in Prague, concentrated on selected areas of food science, namely brewing and the related fields of food microbiology, food chemistry and sugar manufacture. The chemical section at the Technical University in Brno encompassed research institutes and laboratories focused on the sugar, fermentation and fat industries. The School of Veterinary Medicine in Brno comprised the departments of meat, dairy and food hygiene. The School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague included the department of food technology, a milling research centre, and also the departments of the technology of baking, alcohol distillation, milk, and fruit processing. The Agricultural University in Brno comprised the technology departments of starch and alcohol, dairy, preservation, wine growing and wine making. Each of the above schools had different conditions for developing food science both in terms of their tradition, academic staff, equipment, and in terms of their theoretical and study basis. Students at chemical faculties gained a more profound knowledge of theoretical and analytical chemistry, including more extensive laboratory practice. Students at agricultural faculties had the advantage of a deeper understanding of biology and, in addition, good knowledge of the branch economics. Veterinarians could build on their good knowledge of anatomy, physiology, hygiene, and microbiology. However, none of the above faculties offered engineering fundamentals. At a time when the concept of a future faculty of food technology and the profile of its graduates were being conceived, attention was focused primarily on the need of new managers for the then modernized food industry. The knowledge of the nature of technological processes and their engineering and economics was the major requirement. At the same time it was necessary to meet the needs of both the traditional industrial fields, such as the fermentation technology, sugar manufacture, the milk and fat industries, and the fields which were only beginning to expand, such as meat processing, milling and baking, food preservation, freezing, poultry processing, etc. Efforts concentrated on the formation of a faculty of food technology in Brno, with three Brno-based schools interested in its establishment (the Technical University, the Agricultural University, and the School of Veterinary Medicine). The expansion of other fields of technical chemistry than those related to food science and the non-existent biological basis spoke against Prague's ICTE in this respect. The final decision, however, was to establish the Faculty of Food Science as part of the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague in 1952. The faculty took the name Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology in the academic year 1969-1970. |
