Dimitrie D. Gerota (pronounced , 17 July 1867 – 3 March 1939) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Org ...

, and corresponding member of the Romanian Academy from 1916.

Biography

He was born in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, the son of a priest, Dimitrie Constantin Gerota (1841–?), and Maria Gerota, born Surpăteanu (1847–?). He studied at the

Carol I High School The Carol I National College () is a high school located in central Craiova, Romania, on Ioan Maiorescu Street. It is one of the most prestigious secondary education institutions in Romania. Between 1947 and 1997 it operated under the name of Nic ...

. In 1886, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, graduating with an M.D. degree in 1892. For four years, he pursued his studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. After returning to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, he started practicing medicine and teaching at various institutions. Starting in October 1897, he taught anatomy at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. In the fall of 1898, he and his student

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

produced the carved muscles anatomical study entitled the ''Ecorché'', based on research done in the dissection room of the Faculty of Medicine and the Museum of Comparative Anatomy. In May 1903, the flayed study was exhibited at the

Romanian Athenaeum The Romanian Athenaeum () is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania, and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's most prestigious concert hall and home of the "Geor ...

; the Society of Students of Fine Arts petitioned

Spiru Haret Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...

, the minister of Education and Culture, to acquire it. Since then, generations of Romanian art and medical students have studied anatomy from plaster casts made from the ''Ecorché''. Considered to be the first Romanian radiologist, Gerota initiated academic radiology education in that country. In 1898, he wrote the book ''Rad̦ele lui Röntgen sau rad̦ele X'' (The Röntgen Rays or the X-Rays). Some years later, he had to abandon radiology because of radiodermatitis of the hand, which required

amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...

. In 1909, he established a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

, where he practiced surgery, and carried out charitable work. From 1913, he was a professor of surgical anatomy and experimental surgery at the

. In November 1935, he submitted the article "Monarhie cu camarilă sau republică" (Monarchy with a

Camarilla A camarilla is a group of courtiers or favourites who surround a king or ruler. Usually, they do not hold any office or have any official authority at the Court (royal), royal court but power behind the throne, influence their ruler behind the sce ...

or a Republic) to the newspaper ''Universul''. The article, highly critical of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...

, was censored, and Gerota was arrested and sent to Malmaison Prison in Bucharest. After protests by medical students, he was liberated four days later. He was arrested again in 1936, and sent to

Jilava Prison Jilava Prison () is a prison located in Jilava, a village south of Bucharest, Romania. History The prison began as Fort 13, part of the fortifications of Bucharest built in the 1870s and 1880s. It served as an arms deposit and garrison until 1 ...

. Set free, he died in 1939 in Bucharest and was buried in

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

Legacy

Gerota researched the anatomy and physiology of the

bladder The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...

and

appendix Appendix (: appendices or appendixes) may refer to: __NOTOC__ In documents * Addendum, an addition made to a document by its author after its initial printing or publication * Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works * Index (publis ...

, and developed a method for injecting

lymphatic vessels The lymphatic vessels (or lymph vessels or lymphatics) are thin-walled vessels (tubes), structured like blood vessels, that carry lymph. As part of the lymphatic system, lymph vessels are complementary to the cardiovascular system. Lymph vessel ...

known in textbooks as the "Gerota method". The

renal fascia The renal fascia is a dense, elastic connective tissue envelope enclosing the kidney and adrenal gland, together with the layer of perirenal fat surrounding these two. The renal fascia separates the adipose capsule of kidney from the overlying ...

is sometimes called ''Gerota's fascia'' or ''Gerota's capsule'' after him. Also, the ''Albarran-Ormond syndrome'' (an inflammatory

retroperitoneal fibrosis Retroperitoneal fibrosis or Ormond's disease is a disease featuring the proliferation of fibrous tissue (fibrosis) in the retroperitoneum, the compartment of the body containing the kidneys, aorta, renal tract, and various other structures. It m ...

, named after urologists

Joaquín Albarrán Joaquín Albarrán, full name Joaquin Maria Albarrán y Dominguez (May 9, 1860 – January 17, 1912) was a Cuban urologist born in Sagua La Grande, Cuba. He received the Order of the Legion of Honour of France. Biography He studied medicine in ...

and John Kelso Ormond) is also known as ''Gerota’s syndrome'' or ''Gerota’s fasciitis''. He was a famed

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and the founder of a large Bucharest emergency-care hospital. The hospital, established on July 17, 1907, is now named the "Prof. Dr. Dimitrie Gerota Military Emergency Hospital". Many of the patients affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Romania Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

have been treated at this hospital. Gerota also founded a museum of anatomical-surgical casts of his creation. A street in central Bucharest (formerly Jean Louis Calderon Street) and one in Craiova now bear his name.

References

* Barbu Brezianu, "The Beginnings of Brâncuși" (translated by Sidney Geist), ''

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

'', vol. 25, no. 1 (1965), 15–25. * Morton A. Meyers, "Dynamic Radiology of the Abdomen: normal and pathologic anatomy",

Springer-Verlag Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

, New York, 2000.

External links

* * * *
Short biography
at gerota.org (site of the Prof. Dr. Dimitrie Gerota Foundation) *
''Dimitrie Gerota. Istoria lucrului bine făcut''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerota, Dimitrie D. 1867 births 1939 deaths People from Craiova Carol I National College alumni University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Romanian anatomists Romanian radiologists Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Academic staff of the Bucharest National University of Arts Inmates of Jilava Prison Romanian prisoners and detainees Burials at Bellu Cemetery People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia