Born in Istria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Fran Mandić (1851-1924) finished a Croatian grammar school in Rijeka and studied medicine in Graz, Austria and in Prague, Bohemia. After graduation, he settled in Trieste, a major Austrian port, where he spent his entire career. After a period in the State Hospital in Trieste, Mandić ran his own practice and held a position of medical adviser of the Austrian State Railway in Istria. Since his student days, he had championed equal political rights for the Croatian people in Istria. Aware of the importance of education, he donated his time and money for a number of new schools to open throughout Istria. For his merits he received high honours from the Emperor and an honorary Citizenship of Opatija, but the greatest recognition was the respect he earned from his patients and their families.