PHYSICIANS from Romania

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Romanian Physicians of all time. This list of famous Romanian Physicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. George Emil Palade (1912 - 2008)

With an HPI of 62.79, George Emil Palade is the most famous Romanian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 55 different languages on wikipedia.

George Emil Palade (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈdʒe̯ordʒe eˈmil paˈlade] ; November 19, 1912 – October 7, 2008) was a Romanian-American cell biologist. Described as "the most influential cell biologist ever", in 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve. The prize was granted for his innovations in electron microscopy and cell fractionation which together laid the foundations of modern molecular cell biology, the most notable discovery being the ribosomes of the endoplasmic reticulum – which he first described in 1955. Palade also received the U.S. National Medal of Science in Biological Sciences for "pioneering discoveries of a host of fundamental, highly organized structures in living cells" in 1986, and was previously elected a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1961. In 1968 he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (HonFRMS) and in 1984 he became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS).

2. Fritz Klein (1888 - 1945)

With an HPI of 58.94, Fritz Klein is the 2nd most famous Romanian Physician.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Fritz Klein (24 November 1888 – 13 December 1945) was a Romanian-German Nazi doctor and war criminal, hanged for his role in atrocities at Auschwitz concentration camp and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during the Holocaust.

3. Nicolae Paulescu (1869 - 1931)

With an HPI of 53.49, Nicolae Paulescu is the 3rd most famous Romanian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Nicolae Constantin Paulescu (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e pa.uˈlesku]; 30 October 1869 (O.S.) – 17 July 1931) was a Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, and politician, most famous for his work on diabetes, including patenting pancreine (a pancreatic extract containing insulin). The "pancreine" was an extract of bovine pancreas in salted water, after which some impurites were removed with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Paulescu was also, with A. C. Cuza, co-founder of the National Christian Union and later, of the National-Christian Defense League, an early ultranationalist and anti-Semitic Romanian party. He was also a leading member of the militant religious fascist Iron Guard.

4. Constantin von Economo (1876 - 1931)

With an HPI of 51.51, Constantin von Economo is the 4th most famous Romanian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Constantin Freiherr von Economo (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Οικονόμου; 21 August 1876 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist of Romanian origin. He is mostly known for his discovery of encephalitis lethargica and his atlas of cytoarchitectonics of the cerebral cortex.