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avances en Diabetología Av Diabetol. 2010;26:463-71

Historical perspective From pancreatic extracts to artificial pancreas: history, science and controversies about the discovery of the pancreatic antidiabetic hormone VI: Nicolae C. Paulescu: light and darkness A. de Leiva-Pérez1, E. Brugués-Brugués1,2, A. de Leiva-Hidalgo1,2,3,4 1Fundación DIABEM. 2Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición e Instituto de Investigación. Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Barcelona. 3Centro de Historia de la Ciencia. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. 4CIBER-BBN-ISCIII

Race and treme Social Darwinists claim that it is sirables’ while multiplying its ‘desira- in inter-war morally incorrect to assist those weaker bles’”.2 As a social movement, eugenics is a term introduced for than one self, since that would be promot- was widely popular in the early decades various late-nineteenth century ideologies ing the survival and possible reproduction of the 20th century. By the end of World which exploited ideas of “survival of the of someone who is fundamentally unfi t. War II, eugenics had been largely aban- fi ttest”. It is also associated with ideas of Many negative reactions to Darwinism doned. Eugenics was practiced around the struggle between national or racial come from the confusion of Darwinism as world and promoted by governments, in- groups. The theory was chiefl y exploited a scientifi c theory, describing a range of fl uential institutions and individuals. Eu- by Herbert Spencer who adapted Darwin- concepts of evolutionism or development, genics was supported by Alexander Gra- ian ideas to his own ethical theories.1 He with Social Darwinism as an ethical theo- ham Bell, Margaret Sanger, H.G. Wells, argued that it was natural, normal and ry. In reality, the two have very little in Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, proper, for the strong to thrive at the ex- common. Main notable fi gures of Social Emile Zola, George Bernard Shaw, Win- pense of the weak. The fi rst use of Social Darwinism, in addition to Spencer, have ston Churchill, John Maynard Keynes, Darwinism was in Joseph Fisher’s 1877 been Thomas Malthus and Francis Gal- John Harvey Kellogg, and Linus Pauling, article on “The history of landholding in ton, the founder of eugenics. among many others. Eugenics became an Ireland”, published in the Transactions of The word eugenics was coined in 1883 academic discipline at universities. Three the Royal Historical Society. Some ex- by the English scientist Francis Galton, a International Eugenics Conferences were cousin of Charles Darwin, to promote the held in 1912 (London), 1921 and 1932 Date received: 27th July 2010 ideal of perfecting the human race by en- (New York). th Date accepted: 7 September 2010 couraging the procreation of the social G.K. Chesterton was an early critic of Correspondence: Darwinian fi t and discouraging that of the eugenics in his book “Eugenics and Oth- Prof. Alberto de Leiva-Hidalgo. Fundació DIABEM. unfi t. In Galton’s own words, “perfecting er Evils”. The scientifi c reputation of eu- Cartagena, 245, 1-5. 08025 Barcelona. . E-mail: [email protected] the human race by getting rid of its ‘unde- genics declined in the 1930s when Ernst

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Rudin used eugenics as a justifi cation for cephalic and braquicephalic crania. The already in 1912.8 The economic crises and the racial policies of . Nev- French anthropologist Eugène Pittard political instability of the late 1920s infl u- ertheless, the second largest eugenics (1867-1962) made the observation, in enced the attraction by the medical pro- program was created by the social demo- 1919, that Romanians from the Old King- fession and social reformers towards the crats in Sweden, and continued until dom were dolicocephalic, but Romanians eugenic sterilization. In inter-war Roma- 1975.3 Most infamous proponent and from and were nia, the interest for eugenic sterilization practitioner of eugenics was , braquicephalic.5 Following these lines, was stimulated by the fear of degenera- who incorporated eugenics in Mein the Roumanian Victor Papilian (1888- tion of the Roman nation. Supporters of Kampf, and emulated eugenics legislation 1956) made the proposal of the special eugenic sterilization thought they at- for the sterilization of “defectives”, that cranial characteristics of Romanians from tempted to protect the society from social had been pioneered in the United States Transylvania when compared with Roma- and biological degeneration. of America. nians from the Old Kingdom and Hungar- In 1925, Iuliu Moldovan, eugenicist Social Darwinist theories had an impact ians in Transylvania.6 Ion Chelcea (1902- and founder of the School of Hygiene and on Central European . Biolog- 1991) reported five different types of Public Health in Cluj, published “Igiena ical debates on race and ethnicity infl u- Romanian crania, suggesting the exist- natiunii: Eugenia”.9 A new law was intro- enced the idea of national superiority in ence of a special Dacian type, preferen- duced in 1930, as the result of putting into Central Europe in the last two decades of tially depicted in the Western Mountains practice the ideas of social hygiene ex- the nineteenth century and the fi rst dec- of Transylvania.7 pressed by Moldovan, appointed as sub- ades of the twentieth century. The new Iordache Facaoaru, eugenicist and ra- secretary of the Department of Work, concept of nation integrated geography, cial anthropologist, accepted six criteria Health and Social Protection. Eugenics historical destiny, and biological terms. for racial classifi cation: height, cranial, became a common practice for state inter- Antropometric parameters and the com- facial and nasal indexes, eye and hair ventions to prevent defective individuals position of the blood became important colours. Based on these criteria, he iden- from procreating. Sexual sterilization was somatological characteristics contributing tifi ed four principle races: Alpine, Dinar- justifi ed to improve the biological quali- to the idea of nation, inseparable from ra- ic, Mediterranean and Nordic; and fi ve ties of future generations. The fi ght against cial anatomy.4 secondary races: Dalic, East-European, degeneration would be instrumented One of most productive researcher in Oriental, West-Asian and Indian. The through stopping the reproduction of de- this fi eld is Dr. Marius Turda, a native Ro- main objective of racial anthropology, as generates and encouraging the fertility of manian, founder of the international Facaoaru proposal, is to establish the superior individuals. Sterilization would Working Group on the History of Race right to leadership for those individuals be carried out only if the patient has been and Eugenics, and Deputy Director of the belonging to the category of superior examined by at least two doctors (one of Centre for Health, Medicine and Society, race. Following his classification, them for mental illness), who declare the based at the School of Arts and Humani- Swedesh will occupy the first place, risk of producing degenerate offspring. ties, Oxford Brookes University. while Roumanians will be sixth, and On the occasion of the XI Congress of Hungarians will be fi tted in one of the Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychology and last positions. The Western provinces, Endocrinology, that took place in 1931 Dr. Marius Turda is the founder and actual Bukovina, Transylvania and the Banat (Constantin Parhon, the founder of the Director of the Working Group on the History displayed the highest level; the Eastern Romanian School of Endocrinology, was of Race and Eugenics (HRE), based at the provinces, Moldavia, , and the President), Mares Cahane, a psychia- School of Arts and Humanities, Oxford Brookes Transnistria will follow, with an interme- trist, addressed the issue of therapeutic University. Dr. Tudor Georgescu is the actual diate level; the Southern provinces, Olte- sterilization of the hereditary feeble- Research Coordinator. nia, Muntenia and Dobrudja, will occupy minded using as conditions that the pa- The aim of HRE is to build a network of inter- national scholars working in the broad area of the last place. Superior racial qualities tient should have been interned for at least eugenics and race that transcends national will be observed within the urban, highly 5 years in a mental hospital, the advice of boundaries, while staying connected to politi- educated, and wealthy people. These an- a commission of specialists, and the fam- cal developments concerning racial and gen- thropological parameters in association ily consent. For some groups of patients, der equality in the 21st century. with the question of national identity and like schizophrenics, sterilization and cas- [email protected]/t_georgescu@hotmail. racial supremacy facilitated the way to tration should be compulsory. In other com racism and anti-semitic options. European countries, laws allowing sterili- Eugenic sterilization was introduced in zation were also dictated (Switzerland, Romania by the gynaecologist Constantin 1928; Denmark, 1929; Germany, 1933; In 1842, Ander Retzius used the ratio Andronescu, who suggested the prenup- Norway, 1934; Finland, 1935). width to length (cephalic index, CI) to tial health certifi cate and the sterilization Various experts opposed to eugenic make the difference between dolico- of feeble-minded and mentally ill patients sterilization. Eugen Rils, a sociologist,

464 Historical perspective VI: Nicolae C. Paulescu: light and darkness. A. de Leiva-Pérez, et al. and Ion Vasilescu-Bucium were two of Europe and Asia. The process of national orthodox Christians. The Jews, instead, them. Other authors were reluctant to ac- construction was accompanied by the de- had their own , that rendered as- cept eugenic sterilization, due to lack of velopment of a populist, anti-urban, anti- similation diffi in a deeply Christian sufficient medical knowledge. Grigore Semitic and xenophobic speech. country as Romania. The Jews were seen Odobescu, argued that the main need was To the religious prejudices against the as a threat against the Christian religion. to educate the country and the nation, as Hebrews based in the idea that the Jews A lot of Romanians also consider the the most effective eugenic policy. Instead had killed Jesus, xenophobic prejudices Jews to be revolutionary , of biological eugenic policies, Odobescu were added. The Jews were considered a since after the Russian Revolution of insisted in educational, social, and agri- stateless town, enemy of the nation. In 1917 a great number of Jews had emigrat- cultural reforms. the 19th century the anti-Semitism be- ed to Romania. The anti-Semitism soon In 1935, G. Banu declared abortion, comes more virulent, and connected with spread throughout all layers of Romanian segregation, and prophylactic steriliza- the emergence of the European national- society without exception. tion, as effective eugenic measures. The isms. In Romania, the anti-Semitism Consequently, the Jews were consid- sterilization of imbeciles, idiots, epilep- spread above all from the second half of ered a triple threat: religious, ethnic and tics, criminals, and psychotics, as well as the 19th century, in parallel to the devel- political. We should recall that the eugen- individuals suffering from syphilis, tuber- opment of the and ic movements of the end of the 19th centu- culosis, and leprosy allowed the conserva- the Jewish immigration to the country. ry and beginning of the 20th century were tion and improvement of the race. The Jews escaped to Romania from inspired by Gobineau’s “Essay on the In- Habsburgs’s and from the equality of the Human Races” (1853- Russia of the Czar, where they were 1855), and by Herder’s theory, which stat- In short, in the 1920s and 1930s eugenic harshly persecuted. ed that some ethnic groups were sterilization was basically considered as medi- In 1878, the Congress of Berlin decided biologically inferior. cal praxis, focused on individuals suffering the recognition of the independence of Marius Turda has written that “The from physical and mental illnesses. Afterwards, Romania under the condition of emanci- medical doctors who embraced eugenics it will be identified with Romanian racial na- tionalism. The goal of eugenic sterilization was pation of the country’s Jews. This imposi- believed that the genetic qualities of the the creation of a new nation through biological tion created an anti-Jewish environment, nation had a direct impact on the social regeneration.8 enhanced by the peasant’s revolts of 1888 and political development of the modern and 1907. Prominent politicians argued state. Furthermore, they believed that a bi- that the integration of Jews in Romanian ologically based identifi cation with the Anti-Semitism in the inter- society will jeopardize the State’s Roma- nation, with one’s racial characteristics, war period in Romania nian national character. In 1895, Alexan- would be a prerequisite for preserving the The fi rst legal measures against the He- dru C. Cuza (1857-1947), Professor of differences between the Romanian major- brews in Romania went back to the 15th Law at Iasi University, founded the Liga ity and national minorities (…). The Jews century, when the prince Vlad (Vlad the Antisemita Universala. became ‘undesirable’, both politically and Empalator, whose fi gure would lead to From the second half of the 19th centu- medically. Degeneration was one of the the legend of the count Dracula) ordered ry, the authorities started a process of “ru- arguments used most consistently in stig- to pursue the Jewish merchants. Bernard manization” to preserve the “Romanian matising the Jews and opposing them to Lazare, a French journalist, wrote in national character”. Whereas the occiden- the ‘healthy’ Romanians (…). Romanian 190210 that during the 14th century many talists were willing to accept the infl uenc- doctors thus envisioned a national com- Hebrews had emigrated from Hungary to es that came from the West, the tradition- munity based upon the exclusion of all Poland, and to the Romanian principality alists, instead, attacked all foreign those deemed to be ‘alien’, ‘hereditary of Valaquia, expelled of their country by influences, defining themselves against ill’, or ‘anti-social’. The Romanian na- the King Luis I of Hungary. “the other”, against the foreigner. In this tional community itself was categorised The idea of State-Nation arose in sense, the Romanian nationalists were in accordance with racial criteria. These 1648, with the Peace Treaties of West- convinced that there existed two enemies criteria included not only ideas of ‘racial falia that put an end to the Thirty Years’ of their country. The fi rst one, the outside purity’, but also biological measures War in the Holy Roman Empire, and to enemy, was constituted by large powers against Jews”.11 the Eighty Years’ War between Spain as Turkey, Austria and Russia, which The Romanian press called the Jews and the Republic of the Seven United threatened the “integrity” of the Romani- “usurers, purveyors of adulterated alco- Netherlands. The Treaties initiated a new an nation. The inside enemy was com- hol, spies and blood suckers. Instead of political and territorial order in central posed by the foreign minorities that in- the neutral word ‘evreu’ (Jew), the derog- Europe based on the concept of state habited in Romania, especially Greeks atory ‘jidan’ (Yid) gained currency”.12 In sovereignty. In the 19th century the na- and Jews. Greeks were relatively integrat- 1910, Cuza and the historian Nicolae Ior- tionalist movements won followers in ed in Romanian life, because they were ga (1871-1940) established the National-

465 Av Diabetol. 2010;26:463-71

istic Democratic Party, with a clear anti- signs were found on our soil… Being Christian Ortodox anti-Semitic trend. emancipationist program. The hostility here since ancient times, the swastika The prominent philosopher and journal- against Jews increased after the incorpo- therefore is, in the fi rst place, ours, Ro- ist , affi liated with The Iron ration of large number of them into Great- manian by its descendant from the Thra- Guard, attracted to the movement a new er Romania, in territories of Transylvania, cian Aryans… The swastika is our na- generation of intellectuals. One of them Bessarabia, Northern Bucovina, and part tional emblem. The cross is the emblem was , later on life a prestig- of Dobruja. of our faith, just as it is with all Christian ious Professor at the Faculty of Theolo- In March 1923 the government pro- peoples. It is only together that the swas- gy, Chicago University. The Legion had claimed a new constitution. It offered Ro- tika and the cross display our entire be- a religious ideological structure; and had manian nationality to the minorities of the ing, our body and soul. We are Aryans its mass base among the peasantry and country, including the Jews.13 This new law and Christians”.14 the students. The Legionaires traditional- inspired a campaign of protests. A hostile ly referred to Codreanu as Capitanul attitude against the Jews was also present. (The Captain), and he held absolute au- Prominent Romanian writers and intellec- While commonly associated with Nazi thority over the organization until his tuals also showed hostility to Jews (Vasile Germany, the swastika was used for more death. Following Codreanu’s instruc- Conta, Vasile Alecsandri, , than 5,000 years as a symbol of prosperity tions, the Legion carried out assassina- and Ioan Slavice, among them).14 and good fortune, before it became the official tions of politicians it viewed as corrupt, emblem of the . The word is derived On March 4, 1923, Cuza, who was a including Premier Ion G. Duca, and its from the Sanskrit svastika, meaning “condu- member of the Parliament, without inter- cive to well-being”, and thus had an Indian/ former associate Mihai Stelescu. Co- ruption, since 1911, created the Liga Aryan origin. The swastika became a sacred dreanu advocated Romania’s adherence Apararii National Crestine (League of symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and to a military and political alliance with National Christian Defence; LANC). Five Mithraism. It also appeared in artifacts found Nazi Germany. important protagonists of the Romanian from prehistoric cultures of Europe, as well as In 1935, Cuza founded the Partidul Na- intellectual sphere were co-founders of in early Christian and Byzantine art. In the tional Crestin (). LANC: nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth A renowned poet from Transylvania, Oc- • Prof. Ion Catuneanu (taught Law at century the völkisch nationalist movements in tavian Goga (1881-1938), joined Cuza in Germany identified the swastika as a symbol Cluj University). this political initiative. The of “Aryan identity” and German nationalist • Prof. Ion Gavanescu (taught Pedagogy pride. In August 1920, Hitler decided to adopt claimed against the harmful infi ltration of at Iasi University). the Swastika as the official insignia of the Jews in Romanian cultural life, ethnic pu- • Prof. Corneliu Sumuleanu (taught German Nazi Party (NSDAP) at the Salzburg rity, and religious belief. Chemistry at Iasi University). Congress. It symbolized “the mission of the The movement reached its • Prof. Constantin Tomescu (taught The- struggle for the victory of the Aryan man”, and greater political influence in the 1937 ology at Chesina University). racial purity.15 election, when it signed an electoral pact • Prof. N.C. Paulescu (taught Physiology with the National Peasants’ Party. The at University). Guard received 15.5% of the votes, Because of the radical racism depicted meaning the third political option, with The President of this organization was by LANC, , former associ- 60 members in the Parliament. King Car- A.C. Cuza. The LANC had its roots in the ate of Cuza broke with him. Iorga argued ol II introduced his own dictator- Christian National Union created a year that Jews needed to be displaced gradual- ship, after attempts to form a national before by Cuza and Paulescu. The LANC ly and peacefully from all sectors of so- government. Carol ordered the suppres- asked the withdrawal of the nationality cial life. sion of The Iron Guard and had Co- and the rights of the Jews, as well as the In 1927, dreanu arrested. On the charge that he appropriation of their lands and com- (1899-1938), a law student and former had slandered Iorga, he was sentenced to merce. LANC called for a numerus clau- disciple of Cuza, and other dissidents of six months in jail. On November 30, sus to stop the admissions of Jews into the LANC, abandoned the organization 1938, it was announced that Codreanu universities, to expel those Jews that had and created the ultranationalist, anti-Se- had been shot after trying to fl ee custody arrived after 1914, and banning Jews from mitic, and fascist movement and politi- the previous night. Much later it was re- the army and public offices. The party cally party, named Legiunea Arhanghe- vealed that in addition to other thirteen chose as symbol the flag of Romania, lului Mihai (Legion of the Archangel dissidents, Codreanu had been executed with a swastika in the centre. ), eventually known, after 1930, by the . Their bodies were Cuza wrote: “In general, the swastika as Garda de Fier (The Iron Guard). An dissolved in acid, and placed under seven is the distinctive sign of the Aryan race, earlier supporter of the movement was tons of concrete. particularly of its Thracian branch, from (theologian, poet, writ- took over The Iron Guard’s which we descend. The oldest swastika er, politician), main theoretician of the leadership. The Iron Guard eventually

466 Historical perspective VI: Nicolae C. Paulescu: light and darkness. A. de Leiva-Pérez, et al.

A Antonescu repressed and dissolved The Iron Guard in 1941. The Iron Guard has become infamous for their participation in . According to the Final Re- port of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania, between 280,000 and 380,000 Jews died during the Romanian Holocaust during World War II.16 Romania was at that moment under the of General Antonescu, who had formed an alliance with Nazi Germany. Figure 2. A copy of the plate dedicated to Lancereaux and Paulescu (Institute of Diabetes, IDF 2003, Paris: To pay Nutrition and Metabolic Disease “N. Paulescu”, homage to N.C. Paulescu? Bucharest) In 2002, the Academy of Sciences of Ro- mania, the European Association for the various texts inciting to the hatred against B Study of Diabetes (EASD), and the Inter- the Jews. An article, signed by Nicolas national Federation of Diabetes (IDF), de- Weill, published in the newspaper Le cided to organize several events to pay Monde on August 2618 mentioned the ti- homage to Nicolae C. Paulescu (fi gure 1). tles of two of these publications: “The One of them was an open international Judeo-Masonic conspiracy against the Ro- competition regarding recent original de- manian nation” and “The Jews and the al- velopments on insulin research. coholism” (fi gure 3). A ceremony was scheduled for August 27, 2003. The act would consist in the inauguration of a commemorative plate The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), with (fi gure 2) in the Hôtel-Dieu State Hospi- headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was tal (in Paris), and the unveiling of the established in 1977. It is an international Jewish human rights organization confronting Figure 1. A) N.C. Paulescu (1869-1931). busts of Paulescu and his mentor Éti- anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, promoting B) Jano enne Lancereaux, with whom the Roma- human right and dignity, standing with Israel, nian doctor worked in the Department of defending the safety of Jews worldwide, and came to power in 1940-1941, proclaim- Internal Medicine at the Hôtel-Dieu teaching the lessons of the Holocaust for fu- ing the fascist Hospital. An international jury presided ture generations. in partnership with Conducator Ion An- by Professor Zvi Laron (Israel) had The Centre is accredited as a non-governmen- tonescu. This was a result of Carol’s unanimously decided to give the Paules- tal organization (NGO) at the United Nations, downfall, by the , cu Award to Geremia Bolli, Professor at the UNESCO, and the Council of Europe. through which Romania had lost North- the University of Perugia (Italy), among ern Transylvania to Hungary. On No- four internationally renowned investi- Simon Wiesenthal Center. 1399 South Roxbury. vember 25, the discovery of Codreanu gators. Professor Bolli would present Los Angeles. California 90035 and associates’ remains caused the Le- the N.C. Paulescu Memorial Lecture at the [email protected] gionaries to engage in a reprisal against end of the scheduled ceremony. Howev- the new regime’s political prisoners, de- er, all the events were cancelled, as a tained in the same spots. On the next consequence of the following circum- On September 29, 2003, the Romanian night 64 inmates were shot. New execu- stances. Academy, through his President, Profes- tions took place on the 27th and 28th No- The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), sor Eugene Simoin, and her Vicepresi- vember, including prominent victims like an international Jewish human rights or- dent, Professor Maya Simonescu, claimed Iorga and ( Mas- ganization, sent a letter17 to the French against the decision of cancelling the trib- sacre). Codreanu was posthumously ex- Minister of Health, Jean-François Mattei, ute to Paulescu (fi gure 4). onerated of all charges by a Legionary and to the Romanian Ambassador in Par- In October 2003, Prof. Gérard Slama, tribunal. His exhumation was a grandi- is. In the letter, dated 22 August 2003, the Director of the Diabetes Unit at the Hôtel- ose ceremony, in which Luftwaffe planes SWC urged the Minister to cancel the cel- Dieu, published a letter in the Lancet,19 dropped wreathes on Codreanu’s open ebration, arguing that Paulescu had been finishing with these words: “Although tomb. an antisemite, and that he had published they did not hesitate to immediately can-

467 Av Diabetol. 2010;26:463-71

A B Figure 3. A) Press release of SWC. B) Editorial by Nicolas Weill

Figure 4. Claim of the Romanian Academy against the decision to cancel the homage to Nicolae C. Paulescu

cel the ceremony, it seems to me that the Paulesco Institute and placed a statue of Two months later, George Alberti and Romanian authorities are extremely reluc- him at the is im- Pierre Lefèbvre (IDF) published another tant to publicly recognise and condemn probable. One might ask if, by its conspir- letter20 in the Lancet, in reference to Paulesco’s past. That the Romanians acy of silence, Romania has tried to ma- Slama’s letter (figure 5). They stated themselves, or at least some of them, were nipulate international public opinion by that: “The IDF is now collecting the unaware of this issue when they inaugu- hiding its anti-Semitic past behind a pub- appropriate writings of Paulesco. These rated in 2002, with great pageantry, the lic veil”. will be scrutinised by an independent

468 Historical perspective VI: Nicolae C. Paulescu: light and darkness. A. de Leiva-Pérez, et al.

Figure 5. Letters to the Lancet: A B (A) by G. Slama; (B) by G. Alberti and P. Lefèbvre (2003)

committee. The IDF does not wish to not sufficiently recognised Paulescu’s mix science and politics. But more infor- work. Dr. John Dupré, Canada, focused mation is needed before we can interna- on the earlier clinical experiences in To- tionally laud an individual who has un- ronto. Dr. Paolo Pozzilli, Italy, reviewed doubtedly made a major scientific the role of the Nobel Prize Committee. In contribution, but who might have es- the closing conference, Zvi Laron, born in poused a morally unacceptable position Romania and Professor Emeritus of Tel later in life”. Aviv’s University, denounced Paulescu’s anti-Semitic past. Drs. Pierre Lefèbvre, Symposium in Delphi, 2005, Belgium, and Jay Skyler provided a brief on the occasion of the 41st summing up. At the end of the meeting, Annual EASD Meeting, the organizers of the event, feeling embar- and related circumstances rassed after the Laron’s intervention, Drs. Christos S. Bartsocas and Spyros G. omitted to elaborate and to publicize any Marketos (Co-chairmen), Sir George Al- offi cial declaration on the contents of the berti, Jon Alivisatos, Stefano Geroulanos, symposium. A Jury vote by the general Jorn Nerup, and Sotiris Raptis organized assembly of experts (announced in the an International Symposium of Experts in program) was not delivered. Delphi, on September 8, 2005, “Who Dis- In the same year, 2005, the Executive covered Insulin?”, with the aim to deter- Board of the International Diabetes Fed- Figure 6. The scientific programme of the EASD mine the contributions in the discovery of eration decided that “The International Symposium: Who Discovered Insulin? Delphi, September 2005 the insulin and its principal protagonists Diabetes Federation would not be associ- (fi gure 6). ated with and there The general sense of the interventions would be no Paulescu Lecture at World drew his opinion about the scientifi c and (Drs. Alberto de Leiva, Spain; Torsten Diabetes Congresses should such a re- a politic portrait of Paulescu (fi gure 7). Deckert, Denmark; Constantin Ionescu- quest be received”. He concluded that “…He may be ac- Tirgoviste, Romania) coincided that the Three years later, Prof. Z. Laron would knowledged for his scientifi c work, but scientifi c rigour and the chronology of publish the article “Nicolae C. Paulescu: unquestionably should not be feted and the facts and published documents dem- scientist and politician” (Israel Medical honored. Quite the contrary –he should onstrated that the offi cial organisms had Association Journal, 2008), in which he be unequivocally censured for his contri-

469 Av Diabetol. 2010;26:463-71

anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic views.22 His outpouring of anti-Semitic pamplets was considerable: “The degenerates are incapable to understand the word of God and by this its vices are incurable. This is the state of spirit in which the Jews are found, that are all degenerates, nothing but tools of the Devil for tortured the Hu- manity”.23 Paulescu stated that Jews were degenerated because their brain weighed Figure 7. An extract of Laron’s article much less than Arian brains. In his book “Jidani si alcoolismul” (The Jews and the alcoholism) he accuses the Jews to use the alcohol to try to exterminate the Ro- manian nation.24 The roots of Paulescu’s anti-Semitism are related to his Orthodox Christian radi- calism and his fervent nationalism. Ac- cording to Francisco Veiga,25 Paulescu was infl uenced by Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux (1805-1876), an anti-Semitic French writer, and by Jacob Brafmann (1825-1879), a converted Jew, who had published “The Book of the Kahal” in Russia, in 1869, with the support of the Russian government. Brafmann accused the Jews to murder Christian children in order to use their blood in rituals.26 Braf- mann also wrote that the Jews had created an organization, the Kahal, with the aim Figure 8. Some of Paulescu’s anti-Semitic texts to dominate the world.27 This idea was al- so sustained by the anti-Semitic docu- ment, “The protocols of the Elders of Zi- bution to the dark pages of Romanian cies, acting against “the degeneration of on”. Paulescu was convinced that the history”.21 species”. Jews were a degenerate race that wanted An Eastern Orthodox believer, once to destroy the Romanian nation. He was Paulescu’s anti-Semitic views said: “God is both the initial cause and the an associate of A.C. Cuza, and wrote ex- Nicolae Paulescu was in many respects a fi nal scope of all that exists; true science tensively for the latter’s newspaper creationist. He believed in divine crea- can only lead to deciphering in nature the Apararea Nationala. Ultranationalists as tion. He used to say: “The scientist can- signs of the divine will and reason, meet- Nichifor Crainic and Corneliu Zelea Co- not just say ‘Credo in Deum’ (I believe ing the Living God, Jesus Christ”. dreanu recognized Paulescu as their men- in God). He must clearly affirm ‘Scio As seen in fi gure 8, Paulescu wrote sev- tor. Deum esse’ (I know God exists)”. He op- eral anti-Semitic texts: “Fisiología fi lozo- posed against spontaneous generation (at fi ca-Talmudul, Cahalul, Francmasoneria” Nicolae Cajal and the Paulescu’s affair that time a new evolutionary idea), ac- (1913), “Fisiologia fi lozofi ca-Sinagoga i The facts of Paris unchained a lit debate cording to which chemical elements had biserica fa de pacificarea omenirii” on the political fi gure of Paulescu. Nico- combined spontaneously to generate the (1923), “Complot jidano-francmasonic lae Cajal, President of the Federation of fi rst primitive life-forms. He fought also împotriva neamului Românesc” (1924), the Jewish Comunities in Romania, and against Darwinism, pointing out that the “Talmucirea apocalipsului, soarta viitoare Member of the Romanian Academy of hereditary changes within a type only a jid nimii”, “Jidanii, si alcolismul” Sciences, defended the recognition of Pau- lead to a variety within that type. He ac- (1927), “Degenerarea rasei jidanesti” lescu’s scientifi c work, stating that there cepted natural selection, but working as a (1928). is a need to distinguish between individ- conservative agent, acting against any In these texts he speaks in both reli- uals’ private views and their scientific trend towards a radically different spe- gious and nationalistic terms, expressing merit:

470 Historical perspective VI: Nicolae C. Paulescu: light and darkness. A. de Leiva-Pérez, et al.

(University Cluj-Napoca), President of 13. Roumanie: le programme de l’Union Nationale “In judging Nicolae Paulescu’s case, it is nec- the Romanian Diabetes Association, con- Chrétienne. Paix et droit. 1923 Feb. En Roumanie: essary to emphasize from the beginning that la Constitution roumaine et la question juive. Paix et we are dealing with some particular issues. taining the following paragraph: “It has droit. 1922 Feb. Available on: http://jpress.tau.ac.il/ First of all, one cannot disregard the impor- been only in November 2003 that I under- publications/Paix-en.asp tance of the discovery of insulin for the world stood the real contribution of Nicolae 14. Volovici L. Nationalist ideology and anti-Semitism: the case of Romanian intellectuals in the 1930s. history of the Romanian science. Personally, I Paulescu to the discovery of insulin after Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1991; 27. believe that Nicolae Paulescu’s merits are reading his original paper (…) kindly do- 15. Swastika (2009). In: Encyclopædia Britannica. great, are special, and must be fully revealed. nated to me by Prof. Pierre Lefèbvre from Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica Online This background set, a dissociation is neces- Liège, the city where Paulescu’s paper (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ sary between his scientific contributions to was printed on August 31, 1921. It is clear topic/576371/swastika). And History of the combating diabetes and his anti-Semite pri- Swastica. In: Holocaust Encyclopedia. Retrieved that in November 1920, Paulescu already vate views. Wheter he is guilty or not is an- from US Holocaust Memorial Museum Online (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article. other issue and, consequently, we ought to made the perfect experiment where he in- php?ModuleId=10007453). judge it as such. I respect every one’s per- jected a dog with diabetes secondary to 29 16. Final Report of the International Commission on the sonal options and believed I am not entitled to pancreatectomy” (bold lettering by the Holocaust in Romania (November 2004). Bucarest: associate a scientist’s value with his or her manuscript author). ■ “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the conceptions, anti-Semite though they may be. Holocaust in Romania, 2004. Available on: http:// These are distinct issues and should be con- References www.inshr-ew.ro/pdf/Final_Report.pdf sidered as such. They cannot be mixed. I re- 1. Spencer H. The Social Organism. Originally 17. News releases. SWC to French Health Minister and Romanian Ambassador: “Cancel Paris Hospital member that my father, who was a student of published in The Westminster Review, 1860. Reprinted in Spencer’s “Assays: Scientific, tribute to antisemitic hatemonger”. Available on: Nicolae Paulescu, respected and admired him, http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/ although he knew he was an anti-Semite. Political and Speculative”. London, New York, 1892. content2.aspx?c=bhKRI6PDInE&b=296323& When judging his remarkable value as profes- 2. Galton F. Inquiries into Human Faculty and its ct=350194 sor and a scientist, he did not care about his 18. Weill N. Paris manque d’honorer l’inventeur Development. London: Macmillan, 1883. th philosophical or ideological conception. I be- 3. Social Democrats implemented measures to antisémite de l’insuline. Le Monde. 2003 Aug 26 . lieve that each and every person is entitled to forcibly sterilise 62,000 people. World Socialist 19. Slama G. Nicolae Paulesco: an international polemic. Lancet. 2003;362:1422. his or her own conceptions, whether I like Web Site. http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/ 20. Alberti G, Lefèbvre P. Paulesco: science and them or not. Personally, I do not share these mar1999/euge-19m.shtml 4. Turda M. Craniometry and racial identity in interwar political views. Lancet. 2003;362:2120. views –I couldn’t–, and, in a way, this situation Transylvania. Anuarul Institutului de Istorie “G Barit” 21. Laron Z. Nicolae C. Paulescu: scientist and is quite dramatic for me. But this doesn’t give din Cluj-Napoca. 2006;XLV:123-38. politician. Isr Med Assoc J. 2008;10:491-3. me the right to deny Nicolae Paulescu’s genu- 5. Pittard E. Recherches antropologiques sur les 22. Paulescu NC. Spitalul, Coranul, Talmudul, Cahalul, ine scientific merits, his very special contribu- Roumains de Transylvanie. Revue Antropologique. Francmasoneria. Bucarest: Radu-Dan Vlad, 1913. tion to people’s health. And I think that no one 1919;29:57-76. 23. Paulescu NC. Degenerarea rasei jidanesti. Bucarest: Fundat¸ia Culturala˘ Regele Mihai I, 1928. has this right.” 6. Papilian V. Nouvelles recherches antropologiques sur la tête des Roumains de Transylvanie. Revue 24. Paulescu NC. Jidanii, si alcolismul. Bucarest: ISRO-Press Newletter Excerpts. Newsletter Antropologique. 1923;33:337-41. Tipografi a, Cultura, 1927. 28 287. Sunday, August 31, 2003. 7. Chelcea I. Tipuri de cranii românesti din Ardeal 25. Veiga F. La mística del ultranacionalismo: historia de (Cercetare antropologica). Memoriile Sectiunii la Guardia de Hierro. Rumanía, 1919-1941. Stiintifi ce. 1934/35;10(3):341-68. Bellaterra: Publicacions de la Universitat Autònoma 8. Turda M. “To end the degeneration of a Nation”: de Barcelona, 1989. debates eugenic sterilization in inter-war Romania. 26. Oisteanu A. The Charge of Ritual Murder. One Final remarks Med Hist. 2009;53:77-104. hundred years since the Chisinau progrom. Anti-Semitism was shared by large seg- 9. Moldovan I. Igiena natiunii (Eugenia). Cluj: Institutul Available on: http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/ ments of the inter-war Romanian popula- de Igiena si Igiena Sociala, 1925. memorie_si_luciditate_06.html (Web of the tion. Although we ought to criticize Pau- 10. Lazare B. L’oppression des juifs dans l’Europe Romanian Jewish Community) orientale. Les juifs en Roumanie. Cahiers de la 27. Poliakov L. Historia del antisemitismo. La Europa lescu for his political views, we cannot Quinzaine, 1902. Available on: http://uk.geocities. suicida: 1870-1933. Barcelona: Muchnik Editores, deny his scientifi c merits. As Nicolae Ca- com/imjhsourcebook/Lazare.htm 1986. jal said, a dissociation is necessary be- 11. Turda M. Fantasies of degeneration: some remarks 28. Academy member Nicolae Cajal advocates the tween his scientifi c contributions to com- on racial anti-Semitism in interwar Romania. Transit. recognition of scientist Nicolae Paulescu’s merits. Europaïsche Revue. Institute for Human Sciences ISRO-Press Newsletter Excerpts. Newsletter #287, bating diabetes and his anti-Semitic (IWM). Available on: http://www.iwm.at/index. Sunday, 31st August, 2003. Available on: http:// private views. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=197&It www.romanianjewish.org/en/index_isro_arhiva_15. In December 2003, Geremia Bolli (fi rst emid=270 html 12. Levy RS. . A Historical Encyclopaedia 29. Veresiu IA, Hâncu N, Roman G. Insulina si Nicolae C. Paulescu Prize awarded) ad- of Prejudice and Persecution. Santa Barbara: tratamentul cu insulina. Cluj-Napoca: Echinox, dressed a letter to Prof. Nicolae Hancu ABC-CLIO, 2005. 2004; 6.

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