Ioan Cantacuzino, the inventor of the cholera vaccine

Who is he?

• Ioan Cantacuzino was a well known physician and a bacteriologist.
• He also taught at Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest.

What is he famous for?

• Cantacuzino is best known for being the founder of the field of microbiology and experimental medicine in Romania and for founding the Ioan Cantacuzino Institute.
• He has also done extensively research in the field of bacteriology, immunology, epidemiology and social hygiene.
• His research has contributed to finding treatments for several diseases such as tuberculosis, typhus and cholera.
• He successfully invented a method for cholera vaccination called the Cantacuzino method that is still used today.
• In 1913 he managed to save the lives of thousands of Romanians by organising a cholera vaccination campaign.

Background

• Studied Philosophy  in Paris (1882-1886)
• Studied medicine in Paris (1886- 1891)
• Founder of the “ Institute of Serums and Vaccines (1921)