Behold professor Victor Babeș forever captured in bronze. Here before us stands a lasting tribute to a man who revolutionized microbiology. The Victor Babeș Bust commemorates a founder of modern microbiology. It also celebrates a pioneer in the study of infectious diseases.
Victor Babeș was born in Vienna in 1854. He died in Bucharest in 1926. Babeș made remarkable contributions to medicine. He notably studied rabies, leprosy, diphtheria and tuberculosis. The Victor Babeș Bust also honors his discovery of over 50 unknown germs. He even foresaw new methods for staining bacteria and fungi.
This Victor Babeș Bust is located in the courtyard of the Cantacuzino Institute. You can find it on Splaiul Independenței number 103. The Victor Babeș Bust was created by the talented Romanian sculptor Cornel Medrea. Medrea lived from 1888 to 1964. The Victor Babeș Bust sits on a stone-clad pedestal. An inscription marks the pedestal: PROFESOR DR. VICTOR BABEȘ. This monument is listed in the 2010 List of Historical Monuments of Bucharest. Its code is LMI B-III-m-B-19990.
Interestingly there are actually two Victor Babeș Busts in Bucharest. The other Victor Babeș Bust was sculpted by Max Kremser. It is made of Câmpulung stone and sits on a concrete base covered in marble. This second Victor Babeș Bust resides in the courtyard of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. It is located on Bulevardul Eroii Sanitari number 8.
Victor Babeș co-authored the first treatise on bacteriology with Victor André Cornil in 1885. This groundbreaking work was titled Bacteria and their role in pathological anatomy and histology of infectious diseases. In 1888 Babeș highlighted the principle of passive immunity. A few years later he enunciated the principle of antibiosis.
Babeș introduced rabies vaccination in Romania. He founded serotherapy here as well. Babeș is considered the second rabiologist in the world after Louis Pasteur. His work significantly influenced veterinary medicine too. He prepared anti-diphtheria serum. He also researched pellagra, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and leprosy. Impressively Babeș published over 1000 scientific papers and 25 monographs.
Victor Babeș’s father Vincențiu was a magistrate, teacher and politician. He was also a founding member of the Romanian Academic Society. Victor’s younger brother Aurel was a chemist. Aurel worked with Victor at the Institute of Bucharest.
His sister Alma’s tragic death from tuberculosis inspired Victor to pursue medicine. He first studied dramatic arts. But Alma’s death changed his course. Babeș studied medicine in Budapest and Vienna. He earned his doctorate in 1878. Later he studied in Paris and Berlin with leading scientists.
Babeș began his scientific career in Budapest. In 1885 he became a professor of histopathology. The same year he discovered Babesia. These are parasitic sporozoan of ticks. They cause a severe disease called babesiosis.
In 1887 the Romanian government called Babeș home. He was appointed professor of pathological anatomy and bacteriology in Bucharest. Also in 1887 the Institute of Bacteriology and Pathology was established. Babeș headed this institute. In 1900 he founded the Anatomic Society in Bucharest. In 1913 he prepared a cholera vaccine for the Romanian Army.
Today the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca bears his name. Also the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timișoara honors him. The Victor Babeș Bust stands as a symbol. It represents his enduring legacy in science and medicine.