Carlos Finlay

Carlos Juan Finlay de Barrés ( born December 3, 1833 in Camaguey, Cuba; † August 20, 1915 in Havana ) was a Cuban physician and scientist who discovered the mosquito as the carrier of yellow fever.

Career

Born as Charles Finley, he changed his name to Carlos Juan Finlay. He studied in 1853 at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 1855 he got his degree and completed his studies in Havana and Paris. He settled in Cuba and opened a medical practice there.

1865 Finlay sent a scientific article on the Cuban Academy of Sciences, in which he worked out the relationship between climate conditions and the occurrence of yellow fever. Finlay became famous for his proof that the mosquito vectors of yellow fever is. He recommended the fight against mosquito as a measure against the spread of yellow fever. It was not until 20 years after this discovery, in 1881 his findings on the basis of the control of yellow fever have been made.

Honors

Finlay was inducted into the French Legion of Honour in 1908.

From 1980 to 2005, UNESCO awarded the Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology -.