Arturo Curbelo Hernández

Eminent Cuban bacteriologist of international prestige. He was born in Pinar del Río, province of Pinar del Río, son of José Félix Curbelo and Úrsula Hernández.

He completed his primary education at Public School No. 179 in his native city. He completed his secondary studies partly in New York and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Letters and Sciences (1915) from the Institute of Secondary Education of Pinar del Río.

At the University of La Habana he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine (1923). He received specialized courses in the United States on Antibiotics at Fordham University and on Virology at the Communicable Disease Center, Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1925 he obtained the position of graduate assistant in the Bacteriology department at the University of La Habana, a position he maintained through biennial competitive exams until he was promoted, by competition, to auxiliary professor, head of the Laboratory of that department (1932-1954). Upon the death of doctor Reinaldo Márquez Camacho, his only mentor, he was promoted to full professor (1954-1960).

He was director of the important Salmonella Center attached to the department and member of the Salmonella Center of New York, both branches of the one in Copenhagen. He taught the subject of Bacteriology in the Faculty of Dental Surgery and in the Dietitian Courses of the Summer School of the University of La Habana.

Among his numerous contributions to microbiology in Cuba are: confirmation of bacillary dysentery in the country (1935); collaboration in the discovery of Treponema carateum by doctors Juan Grau Triana and José Alfonso Armenteros (1938); demonstration of murine typhus in Cuba (1941); demonstration of the first autochthonous human cases of Leptospirosis on the Island (1944), in collaboration with professor Márquez; discovery of two new types of Salmonella (habanense and cubense) (1946); isolation of Influenza viruses A and B for the first time in the country (1954) and others.

In his copious and important scientific bibliography are found the books: "Textbook of Bacteriology" (1943); "The Pathogenic Bacteria of Man" (1941), both reference works, in their time, in numerous Spanish-speaking universities; "Technical Manual of Clinical Bacteriology" (1950); "Rickettsiosis" (1943), "Suárez Bruno" Prize from the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana; "Brucellosis in Cuba" (1942), "Suárez Bruno" Prize; "Human Salmonellosis in Cuba" (1946), Prize from the Society of Clinical Studies; he wrote the chapter "Fever due to Ratbite" for the work "Clinical Laboratory Methods and Diagnosis" (1943), by Robert Gradwohl and left unpublished a new "Textbook of Bacteriology" and "Human Toxoplasmosis. Basic Text on the Subject".

His bibliography is completed by 264 monographs and scientific articles.

He was founder, director and co-owner of "Reinaldo Márquez" Laboratories; director of the National Institute of Hygiene and of the "Finlay" Institute of La Habana; member of the Superior Board of Health and director of the Clinical Laboratories of the National Polyclinic "La Bondad" and of the Sanatorium "Concepción Arenal de Hijas de Galicia". He belonged to the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of La Habana and to the National Academy of Medicine of Caracas, Venezuela; to the Society of American Bacteriologists and to other national and foreign institutions.

He died in La Habana on April 21, 1973.

Source: Journal of Medical Sciences La Habana