Stamen Gigov Grigorov (; 27 October 1878 – 27 October 1945) was a prominent

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

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 ...

and

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

. He discovered the ''

Lactobacillus bulgaricus ''Lactobacillus bulgaricus'' is the main bacterium used for the production of yogurt. It also plays a crucial role in the ripening of some cheeses, as well as in other processes involving naturally fermented products. It is defined as homoferment ...

'' bacillus, used in the making of

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

Life

Stamen Grigorov was born in the village of (lit. "Cold Spring"), ,

Pernik Province Pernik Province is a province in western Bulgaria, neighbouring Serbia. Its main city is Pernik, and other municipalities are Breznik, Kovachevtsi, Radomir, Tran, and Zemen. Demographics Pernik province had a population of 133,750 accordi ...

, Bulgaria. He completed his secondary education in natural sciences in Montpellier, France and medical science in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1905, at the age of 27, Grigorov made the discovery for which he is best known. In the microbiological laboratory of Professor Léon Massol in Geneva, he discovered that a certain strain of bacillus is the basis of

. In recognition the strain was called by the scientific community ''

''. In the 1950s, the state-owned yogurt company patented and promoted a specific blend of bacterial strains to create an "official Bulgarian yoghurt". This blend continues to be exported to yogurt producers in many countries. Apart from the discovery of ''Lactobacillus bulgaricus'', Grigorov contributed to the creation of a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

treatment in 1906, along with Albert Calmette. This used

Penicillium ''Penicillium'' () is a genus of Ascomycota, ascomycetous fungus, fungi that is part of the mycobiome of many species and is of major importance in the natural environment, in food spoilage, and in food and drug production. Some members of th ...

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

for the treatment of

. Through his scientific experiments ''in-vitro'' and ''in-vivo'' on lab animals and later on human patients, Grigorov demonstrated the healing effect of Penicillium fungi in the treatment of

. Grigorov died on 27 October 1945, his 67th birthday.

Legacy

Grigorov Glacier on

Brabant Island Brabant Island is the second largest island of the Palmer Archipelago within the British Antarctic Territory, lying between Anvers Island and Liège Island. Brabant Island is long north-south, wide, and rises to in Mount Parry. The interi ...

Palmer Archipelago Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Tower Island in the north to Anvers ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Stamen Grigorov. On 27 October 2020, Stamen was honoured by Google as the

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

of the day.

Life

Legacy

References

Further reading