Mihai Ciucă (18 August 1883–20 February 1969) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n bacteriologist and parasitologist.

Biography

He was born into a family of teachers in

Săveni Săveni () is a small town located in Botoșani County in the Western Moldavia region in northeastern Romania. The town administers five villages: Bodeasa, Bozieni, Chișcăreni, Petricani, and Sat Nou. Near Săveni, at , there is a tall guyed ...

Dorohoi County Dorohoi County, with its seat at Dorohoi, was a subdivision of the Kingdom of Romania and located in the region of Moldavia. Geography The county was located in the northeastern part of Greater Romania, in the north-eastern extremity of the Molda ...

, in the

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

region, and spent his childhood in his native village. He attended A. T. Laurian High School in

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

, followed by the Boarding High School in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, which he completed in 1901. In 1907, he obtained a doctorate in medicine from the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

. Ciucă subsequently went to France, where he trained in the microbiology laboratories of

Pierre Paul Émile Roux Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

Albert Calmette Léon Charles Albert Calmette ForMemRS (; 12 July 1863 – 29 October 1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist, and an important officer of the Pasteur Institute. He co-discovered the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, an attenuat ...

, and

Constantin Levaditi Constantin Levaditi (1 August 1874 – 5 September 1953) was a Romanian physician and microbiologist, a major figure in virology and immunology, especially in the study of poliomyelitis and syphilis. Biography Constantin Levaditi was born in Ga ...

, as well as in the protozoology laboratory of

Félix Mesnil Félix Étienne Pierre Mesnil ( Omonville-la-Petite, La Manche department, 12 December 1868 – 15 February 1938, Paris) was a French zoologist, biologist, botanist, mycologist and algologist. He was a student of Alfred Giard at the École Norm ...

and

Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (18 June 1845 – 18 May 1922) was a French physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1907 for his discoveries of parasitic protozoans as causative agents of infectious diseases such as malaria ...

. He became a hospital physician in 1907, and would remain as such until 1934. A participant in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

, Ciucă returned to Romania upon the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Involved in the fight against epidemics once Romania entered the war in 1916, he first headed an army corps laboratory before becoming director of a military hospital in the temporary capital Iași. Bearing the rank of colonel, his tireless work focused on

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

tetanus Tetanus (), also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'' and characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually l ...

gas gangrene Gas gangrene (also known as clostridial myonecrosis) is a bacterial infection that produces tissue gas in gangrene. This deadly form of gangrene usually is caused by '' Clostridium perfringens'' bacteria. About 1,000 cases of gas gangrene are r ...

, recurrent fever and influenza, and thousands of cases of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

.Alexa, Gavăt, p. 208 He was the first Romanian physician to diagnose a case of epidemic

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

. Recognizing the lack of a well-organized hospital for infectious diseases in Moldavia, he helped set one up. In 1919, together with

Nicolae Titulescu Nicolae Titulescu (; 4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was a Romanian politician and diplomat, at various times ambassador, finance minister, and foreign minister, and for two terms served as president of the General Assembly of the League of Nati ...

and

Ioan 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 o ...

, he signed the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

on behalf of

. In 1921, together with

Jules Bordet Jules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet ( , ; 13 June 1870 – 6 April 1961) was a Belgian immunologist and microbiologist. The bacterial genus ''Bordetella'' is named after him. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to him in 1919 ...

, he discovered the phenomenon of

lysogeny Lysogeny, or the lysogenic cycle, is one of two cycles of viral reproduction (the lytic cycle being the other). Lysogeny is characterized by integration of the bacteriophage nucleic acid into the host bacterium's genome or formation of a circ ...

, now called the Bordet–Ciucă phenomenon. In 1922, upon the recommendation of Cantacuzino, Ciucă was named professor of hygiene and infectious diseases at the medical faculty of the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

. The creator of the Iași hygiene school, he laid the basis for a specialized department and founded a research laboratory for microbiology and chemistry. Over the course of his career, Ciucă was invited to hold courses in Zagreb, Belgrade, Moscow (1924), Paris (1924), the Hamburg Tropical Medicine Institute (1930), the Malariology Institute in Rome (1932) and Singapore (1934). Together with

Alexandru Slătineanu Alexandru Slătineanu (January 5, 1873 – November 27, 1939) was a Romanian bacteriologist, civil servant, and art collector. From an aristocratic and intellectual background, he embraced socialism while studying in Paris in the 1890s, becoming a ...

, he set up a model health system at Tomești. He belonged to a team that established an isolation hospital in Iași, using modern methods of triage, diagnosis and treatment. He was also active within the Iași Hygiene Institute, helping form a unified structure of local preventive medicine establishments.Alexa, Gavăt, p. 210 Timbru Mihai Ciuca

Beginning in the 1920s, he emerged as an expert on malaria, and was at the forefront of efforts to eradicate the disease in Romania. His research included experimental infection and, at Tomești, a malaria study station he founded in 1931. He was a friend and collaborator of British malaria researcher Percy George Shute, who visited Iași several times. Ciucă undertook numerous research visits, not only to malaria-affected areas of Europe, but also to India, China, Indochina and Korea. In 1938, he was elected a titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. Ciucă's distinctions included the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

(officer), the Order of the Crown (officer, with swords), the

Military Virtue Medal The Military Virtue Medal () is a Romanian military decoration, instituted on April 8, 1872, by King Carol I. A previous version, called ''Pro Virtute Militari'', was established by Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1860 for the veterans of the Dealul Spi ...

, ''

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

'' and

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. He was awarded the Darling Foundation Prize with Pyotr Grigorievich Sergiev for their services in the field of

malariology Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seiz ...

(1966). Ciucă was an avid

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

; his home office was covered with paintings by

Jean Alexandru Steriadi Jean Alexandru Steriadi (29 October 1880 – 23 November 1956) was a Romanian painter and drawing artist. He made portraits and compositions based on a strong, expressive drawing; then he evolved towards impressionistic Impressionism was a ...

and Dumitru Ghiață, and he had more paintings in his house by Gheorghe Petrașcu (a friend of his),

Iosif Iser Iosif Iser (21 May 1881 – 25 April 1958; born and died in Bucharest) was a Romanian painter and graphic artist. Born to a History of the Jews in Romania, Jewish family, he was initially inspired by Expressionism, creating drawings with thick, ...

, and

Theodor Pallady Theodor Pallady (; 11 April 1871 – 16 August 1956) was a Romanian painter. Biography Theodor Pallady was the son of Ioan Pallady and Maria Cantacuzino, the older sister of Romanian diplomat Neculai B. Cantacuzino. He was born in Iași, Roman ...

. He made two donations of his art collection to the Romanian Academy; the first donation (from 1954) included 260

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s, while the second donation (from 1966) consisted of 31 engravings and 7 drawings and

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

. These works included 98

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808 – February 10 or 11, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the July Revolution, Revolution of 1830 ...

and engravings by

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is '' The Raft of the Medusa''. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romanti ...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

, Paul Huet, ,

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etching ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realis ...

Alphonse Legros Alphonse Legros (; 8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist. He moved to London in 1863 and later was naturalized as British. He was important as a teacher in the British etching ...

, and

Eugène Carrière Eugène Anatole Carrière (; 16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French Symbolist artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. ...

, as well as

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

Jan Dirksz Both Jan Dirksz Both (between 1610 and 1618 - August 9, 1652) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher, who made an important contribution to the development of Dutch Italianate landscape painting. Biography Both was born in Utrecht, and wa ...

Johan Jongkind Johan Barthold Jongkind (; 3 June 1819 – 9 February 1891) was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He painted marine landscapes in a free manner and is regarded as a forerunner of impressionism. Biography Jongkind was born in the town of Lat ...

, and

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic ...

. Another part of the donation included 18 Japanese prints, which entered the collection of the

Romanian Academy Library The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's mai ...

. In 1983,

Poșta Română CN Poșta Română SA is the national operator in the field of postal services in Romania. It is the sole supplier of universal service in any point on the Romanian territory. Poșta Română is active on the free market of value added postal ...

issued a 1 leu stamp in his honor. The high school in Săveni was named after him in 1992.Short history
at the Dr. Mihai Ciucă Theoretical High School site Streets in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and Iași are also named after him.

Notes

References

* Lucia Alexa, Viorica Gavăt, "Mihai Ciucă", in Eugen Târcoveanu, Constantin Romanescu, Mihai Lițu (eds.), ''125 de ani de învățământ medical superior la Iași''. Iași, Ed. Gr. T. Popa, 2004, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciuca, Mihai 1883 births 1969 deaths People from Săveni Costache Negruzzi National College alumni University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Titular members of the Romanian Academy Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military doctors Malariologists Romanian bacteriologists Romanian public health doctors Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Legion of Honour Romanian art collectors The Darling Foundation Prize laureates A. T. Laurian National College alumni