Buzău – evoluţia sistemelor de sănătate şi asistenţă socială până la mijlocul secolului XX
The Evolution of Health Care Facilities in Buzău Till the Middle of the 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: As a general rule, in European urban milieu, a system of social assistance and protection existed since the middle ages, intended for poor members of the community. Romanian towns from Moldavia and Walachia are no exception to this rule, and historical data demonstrate the existence of such facilities. Buzău, a town cited in historical documents since 1431, shows interesting feature in this respect. Gradually, the old institution having assured protection to old, needy and sick persons, like the bishopric, the monasteries, the hermitages and the parochial churches were replaced by modern facilities for health and social assistance (hospital, asylum, medical surgery, pharmacy). Since the founding of a bishopric in Buzău, the town becomes not only an ecclesiastical centre, but also a generator of numerous building initiatives, mostly with social role. The turning point marking the replacement of medieval health care facilities with modern ones was the moment the Gârlaşi hospital was builds in 1790 by Maria Minculeasa, on the precinct of the church of Gârlaşi she had founded 10 years before. After this, the foundations for social care appear at an alert pace, assuring the citizens of Buzau, victims of wars, fires, earthquakes and deceases a much needed assistance. At the middle of the 20th century, a complex and efficient sanitary and social assistance system was perfected. In this context a number of remarkable biologists and doctors appear, like the unique Romanian having received the Nobel Prize for medicine, George Emil Palade, born in Buzau and having studied at the Hasdeu high school till 1929.

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