Ioan Cantacuzino

He established the fields of microbiology and experimental medicine in Romania, and founded the Ioan Cantacuzino Institute.

He obtained his doctorate in 1894, with thesis Recherches sur le mode de destruction du vibrion cholérique dans l'organisme.

As a disciple of Mechnikov, he devoted part of his research to expanding on the latter's field of interest (phagocytes, the body's means of defence against pathogens, as well as the issue of immunity and invertebrates).

During the Second Balkan War, Cantacuzino was appointed head of the staff combatting the cholera epidemic in the ranks of the Romanian Army stationed in Bulgaria; he was assigned to the same position during the Romanian campaign in World War I, in the fight against typhus.

He founded and led the scientific magazines Revista Științelor Medicale and Archives roumaines de pathologie expérimentale, and regularly contributed to the literary magazine Viața Românească (replacing Paul Bujor on the editorial board).