Ion Cantacuzino 2018 stampsheet of Romania

Ioan I. Cantacuzino (; also Ion Cantacuzino; 25 November 1863 – 14 January 1934) was a renowned Romanian physician and bacteriologist, a professor at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy of the University of Bucharest, and a titular member of the Romanian Academy. He established the fields of

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and

experimental medicine An experimental drug is a medicinal product (a drug or vaccine) that has not yet received approval from governmental regulatory authorities for routine use in human or veterinary medicine. A medicinal product may be approved for use in one disea ...

in Romania, and founded the Ioan Cantacuzino Institute.

Early days

He was born in Bucharest as a member of the

Cantacuzino family The House of Cantacuzino (french: Cantacuzène) is a Romanian aristocratic family of Greek origin. The family gave a number of princes to Wallachia and Moldavia, and it claimed descent from a branch of the Byzantine Kantakouzenos family, specifica ...

and the son of

Ion C. Cantacuzino Ioan I. Cantacuzino (; also Ion Cantacuzino; 25 November 1863 – 14 January 1934) was a renowned Romanian physician and bacteriologist, a professor at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy of the University of Bucharest, and a titular member of ...

. After attending the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, he graduated from the University of Paris' Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, and worked at several hospitals in Paris. He obtained his doctorate in 1894, with thesis ''Recherches sur le mode de destruction du vibrion cholérique dans l'organisme''. Later in the same year, he began his academic career as a deputy professor at the University of Iași, and returned to Paris after two years to serve on the staff of the Pasteur Institute, where he worked under the direction of

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah ...

Career

In 1901, Cantacuzino was assigned a teaching position in Bucharest, where he became a major influence on a generation of scientists. His discoveries were relevant in 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 ...

, epidemic typhus, tuberculosis, and

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

. As a disciple of Mechnikov, he devoted part of his research to expanding on the latter's field of interest ( phagocytes, the body's means of defence against pathogens, as well as the issue of immunity and invertebrates). He invented the notion of ''

contact immunity Contact immunity is the property of some vaccines, where a vaccinated individual can confer immunity upon unimmunized individuals through contact with bodily fluids or excrement. In other words, if person “A” has been vaccinated for virus ' ...

''. During the Second Balkan War, Cantacuzino was appointed head of the staff combatting the cholera epidemic in the ranks of the Romanian Army stationed in Bulgaria; he was assigned to the same position during the

Romanian campaign The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...

in World War I, in the fight against typhus. He founded and led the scientific magazines ''Revista Științelor Medicale'' and ''Archives roumaines de pathologie expérimentale'', and regularly contributed to the

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

'' Viața Românească'' (replacing Paul Bujor on the editorial board). A collaborator of Constantin Stere, he was noted as a

Poporanist Poporanism is a Romanian version of nationalism and populism. The word is derived from ''popor'', meaning "people" in Romanian. Founded by Constantin Stere in the early 1890s, Poporanism is distinguished by its opposition to socialism, promotion ...

disciple of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea.

Mircea Vulcănescu Mircea Aurel Vulcănescu (3 March 1904 – 28 October 1952) was a Romanian philosopher, economist, ethics teacher, sociologist, and far-right politics, far-right politician. Undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance from 1941 to 1944 in the ...

''Școala sociologică a lui Dimitrie Gusti. IX: Semnificaţia generală a învățământului gustian''
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantacuzino, Ioan 1863 births 1934 deaths Ioan Romanian inventors Romanian military doctors Romanian bacteriologists Romanian Ministers of Health Romanian Ministers of Labor Romanian socialists Titular members of the Romanian Academy Romanian Land Forces officers Romanian magazine editors Poporanists Romanian military personnel of World War I Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty University of Paris alumni Physicians from Bucharest Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy faculty Romanian expatriates in France