ANA ASLANAna Aslan (born 1 January 1897, at Brăila - death 20May

1988, at Bucharest) was a Romanian biologist and physician. She is considered to be a founding figure of gerontology and geriatrics in Romania. In 1952, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ana Aslan, the Geriatric Institute in Bucharest was founded. This Institute was the first of its kind in Romania and was recognized by the World Health Organization.

She highlighted the importance of procaine in improving age-related dystrophic disorders.

Inventions:

•1952 - Prepare vitamin H3 (Gerovital), geriatric product patented in over 30 countries

•1980 - She invented, together with pharmacist Helen Polovrăgeanu, Aslavital, product geriatric

Ana Aslan’s research activity received many international distinctions, among which:• “Cross of Merit” – First Class of the Order of Merit , Germany ,1971 • “Cavalier de la Nouvelle Europe” Prize Oscar , Italy , 1973 • “Les Palmes Academiques”, France, 1974 • “honorary Foreign Citizen and Honorary Professor of Sciences”, Philippines , 1978 • “Member Honoris Causa” Diploma of the Bohemo-Slovakian Society of Gerontology, 1981 • “Leon Bernard” Prize, important distinction granted by the World Health Organization upon nomination and endorsement by officials of a member state (in this case by the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu) for contributing to the development of gerontology and geriatrics, 1982

1896-1988

ANA ASLAN

VICTOR BABES

Victor Babeş (4 July 1854 – 19 October 1926) was a Romanian physician, biologist, and one of the earliest bacteriologists. He made early and significant contributions to the study of rabies, leprosy, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases.The Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Victor Babes"Timisoara bears his name.

In 1885 he discovered a parasitic sporozoan of the ticks, named Babesia(of the genus ), and which causes a rare and severe disease called babesiosis. In the same year, he published the first treatise of bacteriology in the world, Bacteria and their role in the histopathology of infectious diseases, which he co-authored with Cornil.

Babeş' scientific endeavours were wide-ranging. He was the first to demonstrate the presence of tuberculous bacilli in the urine of infected patients.

He also discovered cellular inclusions in rabies-infected nerve cells. Of diagnostic value, they were to be named after him (Babeş-Negri bodies).Babeş was one of the founders of serum therapy, and was the first to introduce rabies vaccination to Romania. His work also had a strong influence upon veterinary medicine, especially concerning prophylaxis and serum medication.

He became a professor of Pathology and Bacteriology at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest. He was also a member of the Romanian Academy (in 1893), of the Paris Académie National de Médecine, and an officer of the French Légion d'honneur.His nephew, Aurel Babeş, was also a physician, who discovered a screening test for cervical cancer.

Eponyms

Babeş-Ernst bodies: metachromatic inclusions in the cytoplasm of gram-positive bacteria such as diphtheria

Babeş-Negri bodies: inclusions in rabies-infected nervous cells Babesia: parasites of the genus Hemosporidiae

VICTOR BABES

1854-1926

Constantin Ion Parhon

Constantin Ion Parhon (October 15, 1874—August 9, 1969) was a Romanian neuropsychiatrist, endocrinologist and politician. He was the President of the Provisional Presidium of the People's Republic of Romania from its proclamation on December 30, 1947 to April 13, 1948, and Chairman of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly of the People's Republic of Romania (head of state) from April 13, 1948 to June 12, 1952. Parhon was President of the Medics' and Naturalists' Society in Iaşi, hospital director, professor, and director of medical institutes.

As a socialistmilitant who, according to his own testimony, was influenced by the works of Karl Marx in his teens,Parhon was one of the founders of a Laborer Party (Partidul Muncitor), a short-lived group that fused into the left-wing Peasant' Party in 1919.A short while after the fusion, Parhon split with the group and became politically inclined toward the Communist Party of Romania.

He allegedly protested against Romania's participation in World War II on the Axis side (see Romania during World War II), but, according to some sources, he was also a representative in Romania for the Reich-based chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck Darmstadt. In November 1944, after the August 23 Coup that brought peace between Romania and the Allies, he became President of the (which had been founded at his villa in Sinaia). He was a deputy in Parliament (known as the Assembly of Deputies) and the Great National Assembly between 1946 and 1961.

After the forced abdication of King Michael I on December 30, 1947, the Deputies' Assembly adopted Law No. 363, through which Romania became a People Republic and the 1923 Constitution was repealed. The same law provided for a Presidium composed of five members (elected by the Deputies' Assembly) to exercise the executive powers in the state; alongside Parhon, its members were Miha Sadoveanu, Ştefan Voitec, , and Ion Niculi. Shortly afterwards, Parhon became the Chairman of the Presidium, thus occupying the most important office in the state.

On April 13, 1948, the Parliament adopted a new Constitution, which borrowed heavily from the Soviet model of 1936 and entrusted the supreme powers to the Great National Assembly - which in turn elected a Presidium, composed of a president, three vice-presidents, a secretary and 14 members. The same day, Parhon was elected as President of the Presidium, though the real power in the state was exercised by the Communist Party.

Parhon was a member and president of the Romanian Academy and other scientific societies. He was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and received the State Prize. He liked to be referred to as a "citizen-scientist".He resigned from political office in June 1952, dedicating the rest of his life to scientific research. He was buried in the round hall of The Monument of the Heroes for the Freedom of the People and of the Motherland, for Socialism in Bucharest's Carol Park. In the aftermath of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, his remains were exhumed in 1991, and interred in another cemetery.

Constantin Ion Parhon

1874-1969