Henrique da Rocha Lima (24 November 1879 – 12 April 1956) was a Brazilian

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 ...

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in t ...

and infectologist born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. With his friend, Stanislaus von Prowazek, he described what would later be known as ''

Rickettsia prowazekii ''Rickettsia prowazekii'' is a species of gram-negative, alphaproteobacteria, obligate intracellular parasitic, aerobic bacillus bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, transmitted in the feces of lice. In North America, the ...

'', the

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

of epidemic typhus. Rocha Lima named the organism after Prowazek and American

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...

Howard Taylor Ricketts (1871-1910).Henrique da Rocha Lima
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Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

Henrique da Rocha Lima received his M.D. degree from the Medical School of Rio de Janeiro in 1905. He was one of the founders of the

Oswaldo Cruz Institute The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Portuguese ''Fundação Oswaldo Cruz'', also known as FIOCRUZ) is a scientific institution for research and development in biological sciences located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; it is considered one of the world's ma ...

, where he worked as a professor of pathology with other famous Brazilian researchers, such as

Oswaldo Cruz Oswaldo Gonçalves Cruz, better known as Oswaldo Cruz (; August 5, 1872 – February 11, 1917), was a Brazilian physician, pioneer bacteriologist, epidemiologist and public health officer and the founder of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute. He occup ...

himself,

Adolfo Lutz Adolfo Lutz (6 October 1855 – 18 December 1940) was a Brazilian physician, father of tropical medicine and medical zoology in Brazil, and a pioneer epidemiologist and researcher in infectious diseases. Life Lutz was born in Rio de Janeiro, on ...

and

Carlos Chagas Carlos Justiniano Ribeiro Chagas, or Carlos Chagas (; July 9, 1879 – November 8, 1934), was a Brazilian sanitary physician, scientist, and bacteriologist who worked as a clinician and researcher. He discovered Chagas disease, also called ''A ...

(the discoverer of Chagas disease) in the areas of microbiology,

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...

and infectious diseases. Rocha Lima developed an international career in medical research, working with pathologist Hermann Dürck (1869-1941) at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, and from 1909, as director of the department of pathology at the Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases in Hamburg. In Brazil, he was a scientific and educational leader, as he participated in the foundation of the Paulista School of Medicine, and of the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...

. Rocha Lima was also a president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science. He received several awards and distinctions, such as the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

of the German Empire, the Benemerence Medal by Pope Pius XI, the Nocht Medal for distinguished researchers on Tropical Diseases, and the effective membership of the German Academy of Natural Sciences. His name has been given to the Student Union (''Centro Acadêmico'') at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, in

Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a municipality and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil. Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-largest municipality in the State wit ...

, Brazil. In 2007, a new strain of

Gram-negative bacteria Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wall ...

was named after Rocha Lima, '' Bartonella rochalimae''.

Partial list of writings

* ''Zur Aetiologie des Fleckfiebers''. Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1916, 53: 567–569. * ''Rickettsien''. Handbuch der pathologischen Mikroorganismen. 3, Abteilung, Band 8, 2. Jena, Berlin and Vienna, 1930. * ''Rickettsia prowazeki- sua descoberta e caracterização constituindo um novo grupo de microrganismos''. Revista Brasileira de Medicina, 1951, 8 (5): 311–320.Bibliography of Rocha Lima
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Bibliography

* Falcão, E.C. A Vida Científica de Henrique da Rocha Lima. ''Rev Bras Malariol Doencas Trop.'' 1967 Apr-Jun;19(2):353-8. (Article in Portuguese) * Falcão, E.C. Henrique Rocha Lima e a Descoberta da Rickettsia prowazekii. ''Rev Inst Med Trop São Paulo.'' 1966 Mar-Apr;8(2):55-9. (Article in Portuguese)

References and external links

Henrique da Rocha Lima. Um processo do conhecimento contemporâneo - I
Instituto Biológico de São Paulo (In Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha Lima, Henrique 1879 births 1956 deaths Brazilian pathologists Brazilian microbiologists