Who was Carlos Juan Finlay?

New Delhi: Paying a tribute to Cuban physician and scientist Carlos Juan Finlay on his 180th birth anniversary, Google posted a doodle on its homepage. But who was Carlos Juan Finlay and what did he come up with?

Cuban epidemiologist Carlos Juan Finlay was recognised as a pioneer in yellow fever research. He was the one who suggested that yellow fever was transmitted from infected to healthy humans by a mosquito. Carlos Juan Finlay was born on December 3, 1833. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Finlay graduated in 1855, and he completed his studies in Havana and in Paris. Later, he settled in Havana and opened a medical practice.

For twenty years of his professional life, Carlos Juan Finlay was embroiled in a debated medical controversy. In 1879, the Cuban government appointed Finlay to work with the North American commission studying the causes of yellow fever. Finlay published experimental evidence of this discovery in 1886, but his theory was ignored for 20 years.

Finlay's work, which was carried out during the 1870s, became prominent in 1900. His hypothesis and proofs were confirmed around twenty years later by the Walter Reed Commission of 1900.

Finlay was a member of Havana's Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences. He was well-versed with French, German, Spanish, and English, and could read Latin.

Carlos Juan Finlay was nominated seven times for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, but it was never given to him. Finlay died on August 20, 1915 from a stroke caused by severe brain seizures.