Vintilă Ciocâlteu (;

Dolj Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)- Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, the co ...

, April 12, 1890 –

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, February 3, 1947) 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 ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, researcher, professor and author.

Biography

Ciocâlteu was born in Plenița,

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)- Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to '' Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, the c ...

, Romania. He distinguished himself throughout medical school and was active in the leadership of the student association. Due to his brilliant academic results, he was selected as the recipient of a Rockefeller grant to further his studies at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. There, in collaboration with

Otto Folin Otto Knut Olof Folin (April 4, 1867 – October 25, 1934) was a Swedish-born American chemist who is best known for his groundbreaking work at Harvard University on practical micromethods for the determination of the constituents of protein-f ...

he co-developed the chemical reactive known as the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR). He returned to Romania as a professor at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in

where he laid the foundation of the biochemistry lab. He also set up his own additional private research lab in the vacant former Royal Stables. His credentials combined with the professorial and research activity led to the prestigious nomination as Dean of the medical school. As an author, he published two poetry volumes and is mentioned in

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...

’s ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pîna în prezent'' ("History of Romanian Literature From Its Origins to Nowadays"). In 1945, at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the subsequent advent of the communist era, Ciocâlteu fell out of favor with the new political regime. Progressive intellectuals were not to be trusted, especially those who maintained an independent attitude and were “molded” abroad, and therefore “tainted” by western influence. Many paid with their lives and/or suffered savage years of internment as political detainees for such mistrust. Ciocâlteu was possibly headed for a similar fate when, in 1947 in the purest Stalinist style, he was summarily and without warning “purged” from chairing the biochemistry department – his very creation and gift to generations – in front of the professorial council. The shock and humiliation caused him to have a massive heart attack that killed him on the spot, in front of his dumbstruck and tacitly sympathetic peers. The events generated a wave of impotent revolt and frustration among the dean's real constituency – his students – that continued to hold him forever in their highest esteem.

Memorial

An inscription in the Great Hall of the Faculty commemorates his legacy.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciocalteu, Vintila 1890 births 1947 deaths Romanian biochemists Romanian male poets People from Dolj County Harvard Medical School alumni 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian male writers