Appearance and victims of Spanish influenza in the Region of Našice during 1918 and 1919

Godine 1918. i 1919. epidemija španjolske gripe zahvatila je i našičko područje. Potvrdu za to nalazimo u usmenoj predaji, novinama, maticama umrlih i nekim drugim izvorima. S tim u vezi otvorilo se pitanje broja njezinih žrtava. Odgovor na to pitanje dan je u ovom radu u kojem se predstavljaju rezultati provedenog istraživanja. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku koji obuhvaća naselja u četiri rimokatoličke župe – Našice, Koška, Feričanci i Podgorač. Za evidenciju žrtava španjolske gripe upotrijebljen je osobni list koji je sastavljen prema rubrikama u matici umrlih. Identifikacija bolesti obavljena je prema uzroku smrti navedenom u matici umrlih. Na temelju toga izrađen je i poimenični popis žrtava na dnevnoj, mjesečnoj i godišnjoj razini, i to za svaku župu posebno i sve župe zajedno. Sveukupno je žrtava bilo 359. Prema broju žrtava po župama idu redom: Podgorač (155), Našice (125), Feričanci (60) i Koška (19). Iz popisa žrtava očitava se kronološki slijed umiranja od španjolske gripe u obrađenim župama. Prikazana je dobna i spolna struktura žrtava španjolske gripe. Što se tiče spola, više su umirale od bolesti ženske osobe, dakle 59% žena u odnosu na 41% muškaraca. Najviše je žrtava imala najmlađa dobna skupina, ona od 0 do 19 godina. U ovom provedenom istraživanju možemo vidjeti da je epidemija španjolske gripe pogađala većinom mladu i žensku populaciju. Ovaj je rad konkretan doprinos utvrđivanju broja žrtava španjolske gripe na našičkom području. To je ujedno i doprinos historiografiji što otvara daljnje mogućnosti istraživanja ove teme.The Spanish influenza pandemic swept the area of Našice in 1918 and 1919. The confirmation for the stated can be found in an oral conveyance, newspapers, the registers of the deceased and other resources. In the connection to this, the question on number of its victims was opened. The answer to this question was given in this work that presents the results of conducted research. The study was conducted on a sample comprising settlements in four Roman Catholic parishes - Našice, Koška, Feričanci and Podgorač. As the evidence for Spanish flu's victims was used the Personal list, which was compiled according to the rubrics in the registry of deaths. Disease identification was done according to the cause of death entered in the registry of deaths. Based on that, a list of victims was recorded on the daily, monthly and annual level, for every parish separately, as well as for all the parishes together. The total number of victims was 359. According to the number of victims recorded by parishes, the parish of Podgorač had the largest number of 155 victims, in Našice there were 125 victims, in Feričanci 60 victims and in Koška 19 victims. Based on the list of victims, we can read chronological sequence of dying of the Spanish flu in the processed parishes. The age and gender structure of the Spanish flu's victims is presented. As far as gender is considered there were more deaths among females, 59% women versus 41% men. The youngest age group, the ages 0-19, suffered the highest number of victims. In this study, we can see that the Spanish flu epidemic affected mostly the young and female population. This work is a contribution to determining the number of Spanish flu victims in the area of Našice. It is also a contribution to historiography and opens further possibilities for the exploration of this topic