Rodolfo Robles (January 14, 1878 – November 8, 1939) was a

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. In 1915, he was the first to describe

onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...

in Latin America, which was known and widespread on the African continent, with the first description of the adult worms made there in 1890 by Sir

Patrick Manson Sir Patrick Manson (3 October 1844 – 9 April 1922) was a Scottish physician who made important discoveries in parasitology, and was a founder of the field of tropical medicine. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen with degrees in Ma ...

. Robles was the first person to describe the etiology of the disease, correctly attributing it to infection with '' Onchocerca volvulus'' parasites. He discerned the etiology from clinical observations among coffee plantation workers in Guatemala, extracting the parasitic worm from a nodule on a child's face. The disease was later referred to as "Roble's disease" in his honor. In the 1930s, Robles also played a role in establishing the first public health campaigns to address

in the Central Endemic Zone of

, which involved sending teams to endemic areas to provide surgical services and perform nodulectomies.

Biography

Rodolfo Robles was born in

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

. As a young man, he was sent to school in the United States, returning to complete high school at the Instituto Nacional para Varones de Occidente (INVO) in 1894. He completed pre-university studies at Rouen, in France, before studying medicine in Paris and earning his degree from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in 1904. He performed research at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

in Paris, where he obtained the

Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur 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 ...

(French: "National Order of the Legion of Honour") in the degree of ''Grand Officier'' (Grand Officer). Robles married Julia Isabel Herrera Dorión in 1914, and had one child, Rodolfo Robles Herrera, born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1928. He served as a professor in the Faculty of Medical Sciences for many years.

Honors and tributes

Robles has been honored in Guatemala and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

with many schools and hospitals named in his honor, including a hospital in his hometown of Quetzaltenango as well as a hospital focused on eye and ear health in Guatemala City. In 1955, the Order of Rodolfo Robles was established as award to recognize physicians for outstanding service in the field of public health. A statue of his likeness can be found outside the old Faculty of Medical Sciences at the

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spa ...

. A bridge over the Suchiate River, which forms the border between the Mexican state of

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

and the Guatemalan department of San Marcos, has been named Puente Rodolfo Robles in his honor.

References

1878 births 1939 deaths University of Paris alumni People from Quetzaltenango Guatemalan physicians Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Guatemalan philanthropists {{Guatemala-bio-stub Epidemiologists

Biography

Honors and tributes

See also

References