Marko Anton Plenčič, Marcus von Plenciz or Marcus Antonius von Plenciz (28 April 1705 – 25 November 1786) was a Slovenian physician in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

who was among the early adopters of the germ or contagion theory of infection at a time when infectious disease was attributed to bad air or miasmas. He published his theories in ''Opera medico-physica'' 1762. He has been called the Slovene

Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named after ...

. Plenčič was born in Salcan near Görtz/

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

where he studied before going to study medicine in Vienna and

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. Graduating in 1735, he practiced in Vienna until his death. His 1762 book ''Opera medico-physica'' had four parts and he described the theory of germs that he called ''animalcula minima'' or ''animalcula insensibilia'' as being the cause of infectious diseases with his focus being on

rinderpest Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthogs ...

. Among his teachers was

Carlo Francesco Cogrossi Carlo Francesco Cogrossi (5 July 1682 – 13 January 1769) was an Italian physician who was among the first to suggest the theory of ''contagium vivum'' that minute invisible parasitic living organisms were a cause of disease. His suggestion was ba ...

(1682–1769) who had also identified microbes as causal organisms for disease. Plenčič suggested that earthquakes such as the one in 1755 had helped the spread of rinderpest. He hypothesized that each disease was caused by a different organism dwelling within the human body, but was unable to offer proof. He suggested treatments that worked against the microbes as cures although the agents he suggested where antiseptics and heavy metal compounds. He was an honorary professor at the Vienna Medical School and was titled as a nobleman by

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

in 1764 and knighted in 1770. ''(cited in Galea, 2018)'
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References

External links

Opera medico physica, in quatuor tractatus digesta
(1762) {{DEFAULTSORT:Plenčič, Marko Anton 1705 births 1786 deaths 18th-century Austrian physicians Physicians from Vienna