History of Latin American Dermatology

Dermatology and dermatologists in BrazilThe Medical Gazette and its exhortation to scienceIn 1866, the creation of the first Brazilian scientific publication corresponded to theSalvador group: the Bahia Medical Gazette, edited by Virgílio Clímaco Damazio. In it, thediscussions and conclusions on medical cases developed by those pioneers of Brazilianscience were offered “with the presentation of the patients and the data provided by themicroscope and by pathological anatomy” 2 . Already in its first year of existence, the publicationrecorded important studies in the field of Dermatology. In the November 10, 1866edition, its editor pointed out the absence of Brazilian doctors at a Paris MedicalCongress, reflecting the ideal of the Gazette and of its members to set up medical scienceof the highest level in the country.Twenty-three years were to pass until, in August 1889, at the commemorations of thecentennial of the French Revolution, and just prior to the Proclamation of the Republicin our country, the exhortation made by the Gazette would really be considered. On thatdate, a delegation of five Brazilian specialists participated actively in Paris in the workof the First World Congress of Dermatology and Syphilography: Silva Araújo, JoãoPizarro Gabizo, Adolfo Lutz, Oscar de Bulhões and Bruno Chaves.João Pizarro GabizoThe Dermatology Chair was institutionalized in Brazil in 1883, when J. P. Gabizo(1845-1904) was appointed to give classes at the Clinic of Cutaneous and Syphilitic Diseasesof the Rio de Janeiro Medical School. For almost one hundred years, until 1978,this clinic would hold its practical courses at Rio de Janeiro’s centuries-old Holy Houseof Mercy, where, between 1912 and 1988, the first head office of the Brazilian Society ofDermatology (BSD) was also located. In the same period, the monthly meetings of theBSD took place in that clinic’s facilities, where several generations of doctors from all regionscoexisted and improved their training, and where the bases were laid down for themodernization of the specialized field in the country.Francisco Eduardo Rabello reports that Gabizo completed his internships in Vienna,at the famous School of Ferdinand Hebra and M. Kaposi. As the sole candidate in the disputefor the title of professor of the Rio de Janeiro Medical School, Gabizo, after doingbrilliantly in the exams, was appointed by the institution and put in office by the imperialgovernment; he was able to fulfill his duty with talent, since he knew the specializedfield deeply and lectured on it with great eloquence.Joaquim Mota adds: “Gabizo was not fertile in scientific publications, leaving merelyone essay on the regulations of prostitution, a conference on leprosy and others on venerealdiseases” 2 .Af of this time, two dermatological schools with opposing philosophies confrontedeach other in the capital of the Republic: J. P. Gabizo’s official Chair, which backed theideas of the Vienna School, and Silva Araújo’s Chair, with no official certification, centeredon the rational and prudent eclecticism backed by the French School.Twenty years later, the influence of both schools in the emerging specialized fieldwould translate into the representation of disciples of both in the list of founders of theBrazilian Society of Dermatology, which, as we shall see, is the direct product of the thirdand last stage of the History of Brazilian Dermatology.The scientific phase■ The scientific stageThe third stage of Brazilian Dermatology officially began in 1883, with the creation ofthe Clinic of Cutaneous and Syphilitic Diseases Chair at the Rio de Janeiro and Salvador73