Bernardo
Alberto Houssay
Source Todo Argentina
Was an
Argentine doctor and pharmacist. For his discoveries about the role played by
pituitary hormones in regulating the amount of blood sugar (glucose ), he was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1947, Being the first Latin American
laureate in Sciences, thanks to his work, physiology was the medical discipline
that had the greatest vigor and development in Argentina.Bernardo Alberto
Houssay
Bernardo
Alberto Houssay
Early
years
Descendant
of French, in 1900, at the age of 13, he had already graduated as a bachelor
and in 1904, he already achieved the title of pharmacist at the age of 17, and
in 1911 he received a doctor at the age of 23. From 1907 to 1915 he was an
assistant and head of physiology work. Professor of the subject at the Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine from 1910 to 1919.
Trajectory
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In 1919
he founded the Institute of Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the
University of Buenos Aires and directed it until 1943, and then since 1955. In
it he began his teaching work to his disciples, who would later become the
first university professors of physiology in the country. In this way, the
Institute became a center of worldwide excellence in the area of scientific
research. In 1943 he was laid off at the University of Buenos Aires for having
signed, together with other personalities, a declaration of support for the
allied side in the framework of World War II.
The
foundation in 1920 of the Biology Society and the publication of the Latin
American Physiological Act since 1950 are also due to its initiative and that
of its collaborators. In 1945 he published the treatise Human Physiology, which
would be translated into the main languages. Thanks to the publication of this
treatise, Houssay received international consecration through important awards:
from the University of Toronto ( Canada ), from the Royal College of Physicians
( England ), from the Royal Society of New South Wales ( Australia ), and
finally, the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, for his work on the
influence of the anterior lobe of the pituitary on the distribution of glucose
in the body, of importance for the development of diabetes.
The award
did not help him lessen his tensions with the Peronist government: expelled
from his chair and privately, Houssay created the Institute of Biology and
Experimental Medicine. From there he carried out, together with his colleagues,
more than a thousand works in endocrinology, nutrition, pharmacology,
experimental pathology, adrenal glands, pancreas, hypertension, diabetes and
other areas covered by physiology.
Bernardo
Houssay was president of the Argentine Association for the Progress of
Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the Argentine Society of Biology
and the International Diabetes Federation. Due to his importance in this field
of medicine, he also had the opportunity to teach courses in the most important
institutions in the world and received decorations from the governments of
France, Belgium and Chile. He actively promoted the creation of CONICET in
1958, and was its first president, holding that position until his death.
In
addition to his pioneering work in Argentina, he also left dozens of disciples
of world importance among whom Luis Federico Leloir (Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 1970) and Christiane Dosne de Pasqualini stand out.
Houssay
died on September 21, 1971.
Awards
and recognitions
He owned
24 honorary doctorates, was a member of numerous medical academies and more
than 200 scientific societies. His repeatedly translated capital work is Human
Physiology.
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In 1947,
he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He was the first Latin American
laureate in Science.
In 1966,
he received the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X el Sabio.
In 1972,
the Organization of American States incorporated the Bernardo Prize
In 1983,
he received the Konex Prize for Honour.
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Museum in Buenos Aires
Plaza Alberto Hussay Argentina Buenos Aires
With
affection,
Ruben
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