Marius Nasta (4 December 1890 – 6 April 1965) was a Romanian physician and scientist renowned for his work in the field of tuberculosis. He was a titular member of the Romanian Academy and President of the Union of Societies of Medical Sciences. He reduced mortality from tuberculosis in Romania and played a leading role in the development of a national strategy involving the research, prophylaxis and treatment of tuberculosis, as well as the establishment of a network of sanatoria and clinics for the treatment of pulmonary diseases in Romania. Nasta laid the foundations for the teaching of modern epidemiology of tuberculosis, set up the first Chair of Phthisiology at the Bucharest Faculty of Medicine and fostered research in the field of bacteriology. Romania's Stalinist rulers put him in charge of a leading hospital and research center in the field of respiratory medicine called Institutul de Ftiziologie. In 1959, they "exposed" Marius Nasta for his "cosmopolitan behavior". After the fall of communism in Romania in 1989, the institute was renamed Institutul de Pneumoftiziologie Marius Nasta in his honour. He is regarded as "one of the fathers of the care, treatment, and study of tuberculosis of the lung in Romania".
Early life and education Marius Nasta was born in Bucharest in 1890. He was the third of four children born to Alexandru and Irene Nasta. Alexandru Nasta, a bank clerk turned factory manager, had Aromanians origins. Alexandru's wife Irene (born Constantinidis), descended from a Greek family which counted linguists, writers and diplomats among its members. The early death of Alexandru Nasta in 1898, caused the family to fall on hard times and forced Irene to teach piano lessons in order to support and raise her four children. His mother's hardship, left a powerful impression on the young Marius whose hard work and modesty were to become hallmarks of his life. After attending primary school in Bucharest between 1896 and 1900, Nasta entered Gheorghe Lazăr High School, then one of the Romanian capital's leading secondary schools, from where he graduated in 1908. That same year, he enrolled as a medical student at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bucharest.
Ioan Cantacuzino and the "Cantacuzino School" At the Bucharest Faculty of Medicine, Nasta was taught by Ioan Cantacuzino who took him under his wing and who had a major influence on his early professional career and personal life. An outgoing and complex personality, Cantacuzino combined outstanding teaching with a passion for rigorous scientific research, a vast clinical experience, and wider interests which included music and the etchings of baroque French printmakers. Inspired by Élie Metchnikoff (on whose staff he had served for several years at the Pasteur Institute), Cantacuzino's courses explored new areas of experimental medicine and offered his students the opportunity to carry out cutting edge fundamental scientific research in a laboratory that he set up in 1901 within the confines of the Bucharest-based Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology. As early as 1904, Cantacuzino's laboratory engaged in the production of the anti-streptococcal serum followed, in 1906, by the production of the Anti-Dysentery (Shiga) serum as well as the production of other vaccines to combat diseases such as cholera and typhus. By integrating Cantacuzino's team, Nasta joined a group whose members left an indelebile mark on the Romanian scientific and medical world. Also known as "Cantacuzino School" or "Cantacuziniști", early members of the school included Alexandru Slătineanu (Cantacuzino's deputy), Ștefan Irimescu (regarded as the founder of Romanian pneumo-phthisiology and a member of the Romanian Academy) and Mihai Ciucă (a leading bacteriologist of his time and member of the Romanian Academy and of the Royal Society). They were followed by other distinguished personalities such as Constantin Ionescu-Mihăești (a leading bacteriologist and immunologist, a member of the Romanian Academy), Alexandru Ciucă (a veterinary physician, member of the Romanian Academy), Daniel Danielopolu (a leading physiologist, clinician and pharmacologist, member of the Romanian Academy), Dumitru Combiescu, Gheorghe Zotta, Ion Bălteanu, Ion Nicolau, and Nicolae Gh. Lupu.
Early career During his medical studies, Nasta worked as a medical extern at the Eforia Spitalelor Civile between 1911 and 1913 and as a medical intern at the "Brâncoveanu" hospital in Bucharest between 1913 and 1918. His internship was interrupted by the Second Balkan War and by World War I (see Military service section). After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine with top marks in 1918, Nasta worked and studied at the Pasteur Institute between 1918 and 1920. His work in France earned him several French medals including the Legion of Honour (see Orders and Medals section) and on his return in 1921, he took up the position of assistant researcher at the Institute for Serum and Vaccines, renamed that year Cantacuzino Institute. The latter was now state funded and its work was considered critical for the Romanian health service. It combined scientific research in fields such as microbiology, experimental pathology, epidemiology and hygiene with the production of vaccines to protect against a number of human diseases such as intestinal infections, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, typhus, and malaria. In 1926, Marius Nasta was appointed head of the newly created tuberculosis section at the Cantacuzino Institute. That same year, he spent several months in Paris, working at the Laennec Hospital and in the laboratory of Albert Calmette. In 1927, a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to travel to the United States where he visited and worked in several treatment centers including at the Saranac Lake center for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Between 1928 and 1934, Nasta continued his scientific research at the Cantacuzino Institute and practiced as a physician specialised in pulmonary diseases at the Casa Asigurărilor Sociale.
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