Alice Săvulescu (29 October 1905 – 1 February 1970) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n botanist who studied various fungi and their relationships to their hosts. After completing her undergraduate studies at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

, she earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

before returning to Romania. Throughout her career, she researched and published over 150 scientific papers. She served as deputy director and full director of several research institutions in Romania and was elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1963.

Early life

Alice Aronescu was born on 29 October 1905 in

Oltenița Oltenița () is a city in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania, on the left bank of the river Argeș, where its waters flow into the Danube. Geography The city is located in the southwestern part of the county; it stands across the Danube fro ...

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 95% ...

, into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She began her studies in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

at the

, graduating in 1929. That same year, she took a position at the Institute of Tobacco and Fermentation, working there for two years. In 1931, Aronescu went abroad to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to continue her education, under the direction of

Bernard Ogilvie Dodge Bernard Ogilvie Dodge (18April 18729August 1960) was an American botanist and pioneer researcher on heredity in fungi. Dodge was the author of over 150 papers dealing with the life histories, cytology, morphology, pathology and genetics of fung ...

. In 1934, she received a PhD in microbiology and pathophysiology from

, with a thesis describing a

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

which attacked roses and returned to Romania.

Career

Aronescu began working as the head of the laboratory of the Agronomical Research Institute ( ro, Institutul de Cercetări Agronomice (ICAR)) in 1934, under the director of the section on Plant Pathology, Traian Săvulescu. She was an asset to the department because she spoke English, but a liability because of her heritage. The two married in 1938 but shortly afterwards, in 1940, both were dismissed from their teaching posts because of Aronescu's Jewish heritage. Rehired in 1941, they continued their work. Săvulescu's main focus of study was on diseases which effected cereals,

fruit trees A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, t ...

, and potatoes and analysis of parasite-host relationships, as well as the applicable use of

fungicides Fungicides are biocidal chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. A fungistatic inhibits their growth. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality ...

. Some of her later works evaluated the use of

radioactive isotopes A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...

in agriculture. When her husband left the ICAR in 1949, Săvulescu replaced him as director. In 1952, Săvulescu was made a corresponding member of the Romanian People's Republic Academy. Five years later, she became the deputy director of the Center for Biological Research ( ro, Centrul de Cercetări Biologice) and in 1959 was appointed deputy director of the

animal morphology Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

laboratory. The following year, she was appointed the deputy director of the "Traian Săvulescu" Institute of Biology. Made a full member of the Romanian People's Republic Academy in 1963, she was promoted to director of the Institute of Biology in 1964. Throughout her career, she authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific publications.

Death and legacy

In 1970, right after leaving a meeting with

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

, the head of state, who informed her that the Institute was being transferred to the Department of Agriculture, Săvulescu suffered a heart attack. She died on 1 February 1970 in Bucharest.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savulescu, Alice 1905 births 1970 deaths People from Oltenița Romanian Jews University of Bucharest alumni Romanian botanists Titular members of the Romanian Academy Women mycologists Columbia University alumni