Carol Davila (; 1828 – 24 August 1884) was a prestigious

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

n physician of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

ancestry. He is considered to be the father of Romanian medicine.

Biography

He started from humble beginnings, most probably as an abandoned child, and the surname ''Davila'' was bestowed on him by his adoptive family and guardian. Davila studied medicine at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, graduating in February 1853. In March 1853, he arrived in Romania. He was the organizer of the military medical service for the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

and of the country's

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

system. Davila, together with

Nicolae Kretzulescu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), a Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) *Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following: Given name *Nicolao Civitali ...

, inaugurated medical training in Romania in 1857, by founding the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy. It was he who had determined government authorities to issue the first official instructions concerning the health care of factory workers and the organisation of medical districts in the country. It was due to his many activities that several scientific associations appeared in Romania: the Medical Society (1857), the

Red Cross Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world's largest group of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian aid, is composed of the following bodies: *The ''International Committee of the Red Cross'' (ICRC), a comm ...

(1876), the Natural Sciences Society (1876). With his assistance, two medical journals entered print: the ''Medical Register'' (1862) and the ''Medical Gazette'' (1865). During the Independence War (1877-1878) he was the head of the Army's sanitary service. Davila is also credited with the invention of the ''Davila tincture'' for the treatment of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, an

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...

-based oral solution in use for symptomatic management of

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

. Today, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, the largest of its kind in Romania, is named in his honor. On 14 January 1874, his wife, Ana Racoviţă, a descendant of the Racoviţă and Golescu

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

families, was accidentally poisoned when a colleague of Davila's gave her

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

instead of

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

. Davila's son

Alexandru Alexandru is the Romanian form of the name Alexander. Common diminutives are Alecu, Alex, and Sandu. Origin Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros), meaning "defending men" or "protector of men", ...

was a noted dramatist and friend of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

Works

* ''Syphilis Prophylaxis'' (1853) * ''Athmospheric Air'' (1871).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davila, Carol 1828 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Romanian physicians 19th-century Italian people 19th-century scientists 19th-century scholars Romanian public health doctors Romanian military doctors Romanian inventors University of Paris alumni Romanian people of Italian descent Romanian people of French descent Italian expatriates in France Physicians from Parma Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously