This article is a reminiscence of four distinctive public figures who were related by family and who played key roles in the development of public health in Dalmatia in the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Dr Emanuel Luxardo (1848-1905) was a prominent physician and an able manager of the Dubrovnik and Zadar hospitals. In spite of his Italian origin, he championed the Croatian national reformation in Dalmatia. His father-in-law Miho Klaić (1829- 1896), as one of the most prominent Dalmatian politicians and champions of the national reformation movement, greatly contributed to the building of new hospitals in Zadar (1882), Sibenik (1883), and Dubrovnik (1888). The older of his two sons, Petar (1862-1910) was a lawyer and very active in the Dalmatian parliament, while the younger son Ljubo (1871-?) was a successful surgeon in Zadar and Split.