Petru Derevenco (1924–2017)

Recently we lost one of the most important Romanian neuroscientists, Petru Derevenco (born in 1924, Kishinew, now Republic of Moldova) where he attended the elementary school. His family (one of his grandfathers was a medical physician of the Russian Czar) took refuge during the World War 2 and settled in Romania. He graduated the high-school in Craiova and started medical studies in Sibiu, where the Cluj University was also in refuge. He also enrolled and followed humanistic courses, but he finilized in 1950 his medical studies in Cluj. He was animated by basic research and worked in order to become a physiologist. His main field was the function of the brain, a field now integrated in the larger area of neurosciences. Step by step his scientific contributions were reflected in the recognition of academic degrees. Dr. Derevenco worked as scientific researcher of the Romanian Academy and obtained rapidly the PhD title and the habilitation. He obtained the order “Scientific Order of Merit” of the Republic of Romania, became honorary member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Romania. Petru Derevenco was a very respected and sober scientist who was only too willing to help the young doctors and the beginner investigators. His main works were dedicated to the action of stress on the body, including job stress; he was a pioneer of ergonomic studies in this country and one of the first scientists interested in the interrelation between the neurological and endocrine system. Therefore he encouraged from the beginning the advent of the Romania psychosomatic society and attended its meetings. Till the end of his life he was interested by scientific and cultural events, being a constant and pleasant presence to many meetings. His main books were: Exercise and endocrine system, Ed. Dacia Cluj, 1976; Stress in health and disease. From theory to practice by P. Derevenco, I. Anghel, A. Baban) , Ed. Dacia, Cluj, 1992; Physiology of athletic exertion, Argonaut Publ., Cluj, 1998, Physiological basis of ergonomics by I. Baciu, P. Derevenco), vol. I, 1984, vol. II, 1986, Ed. Dacia, Cluj; Darwin and darwnism, Ed. Casa Cãrţii de Ştiinţã 2011. He left his dedicated wife Stela Maria Ramboiu and a daughter, currently a physician in the USA.