Gheorghe Marinescu
Encyclopedia
Gheorghe Marinescu (ˈɡe̯orɡe mariˈnesku; February 28, 1863, Bucharest
– May 15, 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian neurologist
, founder of the Romanian School of Neurology
.
After the attendance of Medicine at the Bucharest University, Marinescu received most of his medical education as preparator at the laboratory of histology at the Brâncoveanu Hospital and as assistant at the Bacteriological Institute under Victor Babeş
, and with Babes already early published several works on myelitis transversa, hysterical muteness, dilatation of the pupil in pneumonia
etc.
After qualification, on the recommendation of Babes the government sent him with a grant to Paris
to undertake postgraduate training in neurology
under Jean-Martin Charcot
at the Salpêtrière Hospital
, where he met Pierre Marie, Joseph Babinski
and Fulgence Raymond
. He later worked with Carl Weigert in Frankfurt a.M. and then with Emil du Bois-Reymond
in Berlin
. On the assignment of Pierre Marie he lectured on the pathological anatomy of acromegaly
at the Berlin International Congress in 1890.
After nine years abroad Marinescu returned in 1897 to Bucharest where he received his doctorate. At Bucharest a new professorial department had been created for him at the Pantelimon Hospital. Shortly thereafter, in 1897, a chair of Clinical Neurology was created in the University of Bucharest
, at the Colentina Hospital. He remained in this post for the next 41 years and is regarded as the founder of the Romanian School of Neurology.
Between July 1898 and 1901 the Marinescu made the first science films in the world, in his clinic in Bucharest
: The walking troubles of organic hemiplegy (1898), The walking troubles of organic paraplegies (1899), A case of hysteric hemiplegy healed through hypnosis (1899), The walking troubles of progressive locomotion ataxy (1900) and Illnesses of the muscles (1901). All these short subjects have been preserved. The professor called his works "studies with the help of the cinematograph", and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of "La Semaine Médicale" magazine from Paris
, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumiere recognized the priority of professor Marinescu concerning the first science films: "I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving "La Semaine Médicale", but back then I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way."
Marinescu maintained close academic links with his Parisian colleagues and many of his articles, which exceeded 250 in number, were published in the French language. He had a wide range of research interests, including pathological anatomy and experimental neuropathology. Daily contact with scores of the infirm and his astuteness made him put use every one of the latest methods as they became available: the roentgen ray, with which he investigated bone changes in acromegaly
, the film camera, for the study of body movements in health and disease. The results of these studies appeared in the monography Le Tonus des Muscles striés (1937) with Nicolae Ionescu-Siseşti, Oskar Sager and Arthur Kreindler, with a preface by Sir Charles Sherrington.
Early in his career he published with the bacteriologist Victor Babeş and the French pathologist Paul Oscar Blocq
a much needed atlas on the pathological histology of the nervous system. His description with Blocq of a case of parkinsonian tremor due to tumour in the substantia nigra, in 1893, was the basis for Édouard Brissaud
's theory that parkinsonism
occurs as a consequence of damage to the substantia nigra. With Paul Blocq he was the first to describe senile plaques
and with Romanian neurologist Ion Minea confirmed in 1913 Hideyo Noguchi
's discovery of Treponema pallidum in the brain in patients with general paresis
. His monumental work La Cellule Nerveuse, with a preface by Santiago Ramon y Cajal
, appeared in 1909.
Gheorghe Marinescu was an eminent teacher. In his lectures he emphasised ideas and gave perspective for further investigations. Recognition in the form of honours came to him from many countries. It was he above all others who was chosen to represent the students of Charcot when the centenary of the great master was celebrated in 1925.
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
– May 15, 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
, founder of the Romanian School of Neurology
Romanian School of Neurology
The Romanian School of Neurology influenced a great share of Romanian and foreignneurologists, descending from a group of Gheorghe Marinescu's co-workers at the Neurological Department of the Colentina Hospital at the Bucharest University...
.
After the attendance of Medicine at the Bucharest University, Marinescu received most of his medical education as preparator at the laboratory of histology at the Brâncoveanu Hospital and as assistant at the Bacteriological Institute under Victor Babeş
Victor Babes
Victor Babeș 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....
, and with Babes already early published several works on myelitis transversa, hysterical muteness, dilatation of the pupil in pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
etc.
After qualification, on the recommendation of Babes the government sent him with a grant to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to undertake postgraduate training in neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
under Jean-Martin Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He is known as "the founder of modern neurology" and is "associated with at least 15 medical eponyms", including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis...
at the Salpêtrière Hospital
Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital is a teaching hospital located in Paris, France. Part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, it is one of Europe's largest hospitals...
, where he met Pierre Marie, Joseph Babinski
Joseph Babinski
Joseph Jules François Félix Babinski was a French neurologist of Polish descent. He is best known for his 1896 description of the Babinski sign, a pathological plantar reflex indicative of corticospinal tract damage....
and Fulgence Raymond
Fulgence Raymond
Fulgence Raymond was a French neurologist who was born in the French department Indre-et-Loire.Originally trained as a veterinarian, he later studied human medicine under Alfred Vulpian in Paris...
. He later worked with Carl Weigert in Frankfurt a.M. and then with Emil du Bois-Reymond
Emil du Bois-Reymond
Emil du Bois-Reymond was a German physician and physiologist, the discoverer of nerve action potential, and the father of experimental electrophysiology.-Life:...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. On the assignment of Pierre Marie he lectured on the pathological anatomy of acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
at the Berlin International Congress in 1890.
After nine years abroad Marinescu returned in 1897 to Bucharest where he received his doctorate. At Bucharest a new professorial department had been created for him at the Pantelimon Hospital. Shortly thereafter, in 1897, a chair of Clinical Neurology was created in the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
, at the Colentina Hospital. He remained in this post for the next 41 years and is regarded as the founder of the Romanian School of Neurology.
Between July 1898 and 1901 the Marinescu made the first science films in the world, in his clinic in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
: The walking troubles of organic hemiplegy (1898), The walking troubles of organic paraplegies (1899), A case of hysteric hemiplegy healed through hypnosis (1899), The walking troubles of progressive locomotion ataxy (1900) and Illnesses of the muscles (1901). All these short subjects have been preserved. The professor called his works "studies with the help of the cinematograph", and published the results, along with several consecutive frames, in issues of "La Semaine Médicale" magazine from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, between 1899 and 1902. In 1924, Auguste Lumiere recognized the priority of professor Marinescu concerning the first science films: "I've seen your scientific reports about the usage of cinematograph in studies of nervous illnesses, when I was still receiving "La Semaine Médicale", but back then I had other concerns, which left me no spare time to begin biological studies. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me. Unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way."
Marinescu maintained close academic links with his Parisian colleagues and many of his articles, which exceeded 250 in number, were published in the French language. He had a wide range of research interests, including pathological anatomy and experimental neuropathology. Daily contact with scores of the infirm and his astuteness made him put use every one of the latest methods as they became available: the roentgen ray, with which he investigated bone changes in acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, the film camera, for the study of body movements in health and disease. The results of these studies appeared in the monography Le Tonus des Muscles striés (1937) with Nicolae Ionescu-Siseşti, Oskar Sager and Arthur Kreindler, with a preface by Sir Charles Sherrington.
Early in his career he published with the bacteriologist Victor Babeş and the French pathologist Paul Oscar Blocq
Paul Oscar Blocq
Paul Oscar Blocq was a French pathologist who is remembered for his neuropathological work done with Jean-Martin Charcot and Gheorghe Marinescu at the Salpêtrière in Paris....
a much needed atlas on the pathological histology of the nervous system. His description with Blocq of a case of parkinsonian tremor due to tumour in the substantia nigra, in 1893, was the basis for Édouard Brissaud
Édouard Brissaud
-See also:*Timeline of tuberous sclerosis*History of Tourette syndrome...
's theory that parkinsonism
Parkinsonism
Parkinsonism is a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. The underlying causes of parkinsonism are numerous, and diagnosis can be complex...
occurs as a consequence of damage to the substantia nigra. With Paul Blocq he was the first to describe senile plaques
Senile plaques
Senile plaques are extracellular deposits of amyloid in the gray matter of the brain. The deposits are associated with degenerative neural structures and an abundance of microglia and astrocytes...
and with Romanian neurologist Ion Minea confirmed in 1913 Hideyo Noguchi
Hideyo Noguchi
, also known as , was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease in 1911.-Early life:...
's discovery of Treponema pallidum in the brain in patients with general paresis
Paresis
Paresis is a condition typified by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. When used without qualifiers, it usually refers to the limbs, but it also can be used to describe the muscles of the eyes , the stomach , and also the vocal cords...
. His monumental work La Cellule Nerveuse, with a preface by Santiago Ramon y Cajal
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Santiago Ramón y Cajal ForMemRS was a Spanish pathologist, histologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel laureate. His pioneering investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain were original: he is considered by many to be the father of modern neuroscience...
, appeared in 1909.
Gheorghe Marinescu was an eminent teacher. In his lectures he emphasised ideas and gave perspective for further investigations. Recognition in the form of honours came to him from many countries. It was he above all others who was chosen to represent the students of Charcot when the centenary of the great master was celebrated in 1925.
Associated eponyms
- Marinescu's hand, a cold blue oedematous hand with lividity of the skin seen in neurological lesions such as syringomyeliaSyringomyeliaSyringomyelia is a generic term referring to a disorder in which a cyst or cavity forms within the spinal cord. This cyst, called a syrinx, can expand and elongate over time, destroying the spinal cord. The damage may result in pain, paralysis, weakness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, and...
. - Marinescu-Sjögren-syndrome, a rare congenital disorder with spinocerebellar ataxiaSpinocerebellar ataxiaSpinocerebellar ataxia is a progressive, degenerative, genetic disease with multiple types, each of which could be considered a disease in its own right.-Classification:...
, congenital cataractCataractA cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
, short stature, mental retardation and some skeletal deformity. - Kinn reflex (Marinescu-Radovici), in some patients presenting with pyramidal lesions.
See also
- Walking Troubles of Organic HemiplegyWalking Troubles of Organic HemiplegyWalking Troubles of Organic Hemiplegy is the first documentary film in the world, created by Romanian neurologist Gheorghe Marinescu. The film depicts several patients walking in four directions against a black background before and after the treatment....
(documentary film)