Oswaldo
Cruz,
Sanitarian Doctor, founder of the experimental medicine in Brazil,
was born in August 5, 1872, in São Luís do Paraitinga,
São Paulo - Brazil. Son of Dr. Bento Gonçalves Crus and
Amélia Bulhões da Cruz.
He begun his studies at the Medicine College when he was 14 and graduated on December 24, 1892, with a thesis called "From the Microbian Veiculation through Water". He worked as a doctor in Rio de Janeiro until the first months of 1896 when he moved to France intending to improve his knowledge in the bacteriology field. During his stay in France he worked as a trainee at the Toxicology Lab and at the Pasteur Institute. By that time, the director of the Institute was Prof. Émile Roux. Back to Brazil in 1889, he was sent to Santos to collect information and to study the epidemic of bubonic plague. Considering the rapid spreading of the epidemic, which was threatening to extend to Rio de Janeiro, an Institute was founded. The main purpose of the Institute was to produce serum and anti-plague vaccines.
The Baron Pedro Afonso was nominated the director of the Institute and after consulting Prof. Émile Roux to have the indication of a bacteriologist to work there, he was given Dr. Oswaldo Cruz's name. Officialy the activities of the Institute started in May 25, 1900. In December of 1902, Oswaldo Cruz was nominated as the Director of the technical part of the Institute. Later he was the General Director. Under his direction the Institute was consecrated as a technical and experimental center. For these and many other reasons, since March of 1908 the Institute is called "Instituto Oswaldo Cruz".
Furthermore, Oswaldo Cruz was nominated the General Director of Public Health and, among other tasks, he fought and estinguished the yellow fever of Rio de Janeiro. He also extinguished the bubonic plague and smallpox and promoted big changes in the Sanitary Code. Among his works we can mention the one presented during the XIV International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, held in Berlin, in 1907. He got the first place among 123 expositor countries. The scientific bibliography of Oswaldo Cruz is composed for 43 titles of observation works and medical researches.
Page created by: Norma Godoy
Enciclopédia Barsa (1983). Oswaldo Cruz. Enciclopédia Barsa, Vol. 6, p. 115. Rio de Janeiro: author
Enciclopédia Universal (1969). Oswaldo Cruz. Enciclopédia Universal, Vol. III, p. 1048. São Paulo: author.