Victor Babeș (; 28 July 1854 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

– 19 October 1926 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 ...

) was a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

physician,

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

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

and professor. One of the founders of modern

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

, Victor Babeș is author of one of the first treatises of bacteriology in the world – ''Bacteria and their role in pathological anatomy and histology of infectious diseases'', written in collaboration with French scientist Victor André Cornil in 1885. In 1888, Babeș underlies the principle of

passive immunity In immunology, passive immunity is the transfer of active humoral immunity of ready-made antibodies. Passive immunity can occur naturally, when maternal antibodies are transferred to the fetus through the placenta, and it can also be induced arti ...

, and a few years later enunciates the principle of

antibiosis Antibiosis, also referred to as antagonism, a process of biological interaction between two or more organisms that is detrimental to at least one of them; it can also be an antagonistic association between an organism and the metabolic substance ...

. He made early and significant contributions to the study of

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and other infectious diseases. He also discovered more than 50 unknown

germ Germ or germs may refer to: Science * Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen * Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually * Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during embry ...

s and foresaw new methods of staining bacteria and fungi. Victor Babeș introduced rabies vaccination and founded serotherapy in Romania.

Babeș-Bolyai University The Babeș-Bolyai University ( , , commonly known as UBB) is a public research university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Established in 1581 as Academia Claudiopolitana, it underwent several reorganizations over the centuries, eventually taking ...

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

bear his name.

Origin and family

Victor Babeș was the son of Vincențiu Babeș and Sophia Goldschneider. His father was a Romanian magistrate, teacher, journalist and politician from the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

region, founding member of the

Romanian Academic Society The Romanian Academic Society (''Societatea Academică din România'' in Romanian) is a Bucharest-based think tank and NGO founded in 1996. It is considered close to the right wing of politics. SAR seeks to *Contribute to good governance and d ...

(22 April 1866) and President of History Section of the Romanian Academy (1898–1899). One of the personalities who have distinguished themselves in the fight for the rights of Romanians in Transylvania, Vincențiu Babeș was repeatedly deputy in the Vienna Award and president of the

Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party (, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Tran ...

. Victor had a sister, Alma, and a brother, Aurel. The younger brother of Victor Babeș, Aurel, was a chemist and worked with Victor at the Institute of Bucharest. The son of Aurel, Aurel A. Babeș, was also a physician, and discovered a screening test for

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

. Victor Babeș was married to Iosefina Thorma, with whom he had a son, Mircea.

Studies

In childhood, Victor Babeș was always attracted to poetry, music and especially literature, as well as performance sport,

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and dramatics. He began studying dramatic arts in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. The death of his sister, Alma, caused by

, at a young age, led him to abandon started studies and enroll in medicine. He attended the Faculty of Medicine in Budapest and

. Victor received his doctorate in medicine in Vienna, in 1878. In 1881 he received a scholarship and went to Paris and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he worked with leading teachers of the time: Cornil,

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

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

and others. He continued to study with great teachers from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

until 1886.

Scientific activity

He began his scientific career as an assistant in the Pathological Anatomy laboratory from Budapest (1874–1881). In 1885 he was appointed professor of

histopathology Histopathology (compound of three Greek words: 'tissue', 'suffering', and '' -logia'' 'study of') is the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease. Specifically, in clinical medicine, histopatholog ...

at the

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

in Budapest. The same year, he discovered a

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

sporozoan of the

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

s, named ''

Babesia ''Babesia'', also called ''Nuttallia'', is an apicomplexan parasite that infects red blood cells and is transmitted by ticks. Originally discovered by Romanian bacteriologist Victor Babeș in 1888; over 100 species of ''Babesia'' have since ...

'' in his honor (of the family ''Babesiidae''), and which causes a rare and severe disease called

babesiosis Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or '' Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ...

. Later that year, he publishes the first treatise of

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

in the world, ''Bacteria and their role in pathological anatomy and histology of infectious diseases'', which he co-authored with Cornil. Babeș's scientific endeavours were wide-ranging. He was the first to demonstrate the presence of tuberculous

bacilli Bacilli is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic Class (biology), class of bacteria that includes two orders, Bacillales and Lactobacillales, which contain several well-known pathogens such as ''Bacillus anthracis'' (the cause of anthrax). ''Bacilli'' ...

in the

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...

of infected patients. He also discovered cellular inclusions in rabies-infected

nerve cells A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an excitable cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network in the nervous system. They are located in the nervous system and help to ...

. Of diagnostic value, they were to be named after him (Babeș-Negri bodies). Babeș was the promoter of morphopathological conception about the infectious process, medical guidelines based on the synthesis between bacteriology and pathological anatomy. Babeș was credited with inventing the first rationalized model of

thermostat A thermostat is a regulating device component which senses the temperature of a physical system and performs actions so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint. Thermostats are used in any device or system tha ...

and some methods for staining bacteria and fungi in histological preparations and cultures. In 1887, Babeș is called in the country by Romanian government and appointed professor of pathological anatomy and bacteriology at the

. He held this position until 1926. Also in 1887, it was established, by Law no. 1197, the Institute of Bacteriology and Pathology, headed by Babeș and that will bear in the future his name (Victor Babeș Institute). In 1889 he was elected corresponding 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 ...

, and from 1893 he became titular on this position. In 1900 he founded the Anatomic Society in Bucharest, dealing with anatomical clinical studies. In 1913, he prepared a

cholera vaccine A cholera vaccine is a vaccine that is effective at reducing the risk of contracting cholera. The recommended cholera vaccines are administered orally to elicit local immune responses in the gut, where the intestinal cells produce antibodies ...

to combat the cholera epidemic that broke out among

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

that was in the campaign of 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 ...

in Bulgaria. Between 1916 and 1918 he continued the preparation of biological products, remaining in the area occupied by the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

. In 1919 he is appointed professor at the University of Cluj, newly founded that year. Victor Babeș introduced rabies vaccination in Romania, only three years after its initiation by

. He is considered the second rabiologist in the world after Pasteur and the father of serotherapy, precursor to modern

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

. His work also had a strong influence upon

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

, especially concerning

prophylaxis Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

and serum medication. He prepared the anti-diphtheria serum and conducted broad activity in researching

pellagra Pellagra is a disease caused by a lack of the vitamin niacin (vitamin B3). Symptoms include inflamed skin, diarrhea, dementia, and sores in the mouth. Areas of the skin exposed to friction and radiation are typically affected first. Over tim ...

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

and

. He has published over 1,000 scientific papers and 25 monographs in the field of microbiology and pathology. In recognition of his innovative work in medicine, Victor Babes was elected member of the French '' Académie nationale de médecine'', of the International Committee for Combating Leprosy, received three times the award of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

. Likewise, he was awarded the title of Knight of the

Legion of Honor 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

Philosophical conceptions and militant attitude

Besides scientific work, he was closely concerned with the problems of prophylactic medicine (water supply of towns and villages, scientific organization of the anti-epidemic fight, etc.). As director of the Institute that bears his name, Babeș has addressed some of the health and social problems of the time, such as

problem, and formulated realistic solutions on the medical organization of the country, foreseeing the organization of a Ministry of Health. Closely linked with the people, Victor Babeș fought for applying the discoveries of science to improve people's lives. He studied the causes of diseases with mass spreading (

), drawing attention to their social roots. Throughout the scientific and social activities, an important role had his philosophical materialist conception, exposed especially in works like ''Considerations on the natural science's ratio to philosophy'' (1879) and ''Faith and science'' (1924). Babeș refuted

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

's agnosticism, Descartes'

innatism In the philosophy of mind, innatism is the view that the mind is born with already-formed ideas, knowledge, and beliefs. The opposing doctrine, that the mind is a '' tabula rasa'' (blank slate) at birth and all knowledge is gained from experience ...

, Schelling's idealist apriorism and

fideism Fideism ( ) is a standpoint or an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths (see natural theology). The ...

. He consistently supported the objective nature of the world, the laws of nature and causation. Victor Babeș founded the publications ''Annals of the Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology'' (; 1889), ''Medical Romania'' (; 1893) and ''Archives of medical sciences'' (; 1895).

Death

Victor Babeș died on 19 October 1926 in Bucharest. His grave is at the Cantacuzino Institute of Bucharest.

Eponyms

* Babeș-Ernst bodies: metachromatic inclusions in the

cytoplasm The cytoplasm describes all the material within a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, including the organelles and excluding the nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The material inside the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell a ...

of Gram-positive bacteria such as

* Babeș-Negri bodies: inclusions in rabies-infected nervous cells * ''Babesia'': parasites of the family ''Hemosporidiae'' * Babeș-Bolyai: main university in

Selected published works

* ''Über Poliomyelitis anterior'', 1877 * ''Über die selbständige combinirte Seiten- und Hinterstrangsclerose des Rückenmarks'', irchows''Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin'', Berlin, 1876 * ''Über einen im menschlichen Peritoneum gefundenen Nematoden'', irchows''Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin, Berlin'', volume LXXXI * ''Studien über Safraninfärbung'', 1881 * ''Bakterien des rothen Schweisses'', 1881 * ''Eine experimentelle Studie über den Einfluss des Nervensystems auf die pathologischen Veränderungen der Haut'', with Arthur von Irsay, ''Vierteljahresschrift für Dermatologie'' * ''Les bactéries et leur rôle dans l'anatomie et l'histologie pathologiques des maladies infectieuses'', Written with Victor André Cornil, 1 volume and Atlas, Paris, F. Alcan, 1885 * ''Über isoliert färbbare Antheile von Bakterien'', Zeitschrift für Hygiene, Leipzig, 1889, 5: 173–190 * ''Observations sur la morve'', ''Archives de médecine experimentale et d'anatomie pathologique'', 1891, 3:619–645 * ''Atlas der pathologischen Histologie des Nervensystems'', with Georges Marinesco and

Paul Oscar Blocq Paul Oscar Blocq (1860–1896, page 1.) was a French pathologist who is remembered for his Neuropathology, neuropathological work done with Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) and Gheorghe Marinescu (1863-1938) at the Salpêtrière in Paris. Blocq a ...

, Berlin, Hirschwald, 1892 * ''Untersuchungen über Koch's Kommabacillus'', irchows''Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin'', Berlin * ''Untersuchungen über den Leprabazillus und über die Histologie der Lepra'', Berlin, 1898 * ''Beobachtungen über Riesenzellen'', Stuttgart, 1905 *
Über die Notwendigkeit der Abänderung des Pasteur'schen Verfahrens der Wutbehandlung
', '' Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten'', Leipzig, 1908, 58:401–412.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babes, Victor Romanian bacteriologists Biologists from Austria-Hungary Physicians from Austria-Hungary Titular members of the Romanian Academy Officers of the Legion of Honour Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Romania Romanian writers in French Romanian writers in German Romanian Austro-Hungarians Scientists from Vienna 1854 births 1926 deaths University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of Semmelweis University Semmelweis University alumni Academic staff of the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church