Nicolae Hortolomei (November 27, 1885 â January 3, 1961) was a Romanian surgeon, director of the Surgery and Urology Clinic at ColÃÂea Hospital in Bucharest, professor at the Faculty of Medicine, titular member of the Romanian Academy, and Minister of Health.
He was born on November 27, 1885, in HuÃÂi, FÃÂlciu County. From 1895 to 1902, he attended the Costache Negruzzi National College in IaÃÂi, and then studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of IaÃÂi. In 1909, he obtained his doctorate in medicine and surgery with thesis Congenital absence of the tibia written under the guidance of Ernest Juvara. After a brief stint as country doctor in Oancea, GalaÃÂi County, he joined in 1911 the genitourinary diseases service at Saint Spyridon Hospital in IaÃÂi, and then was appointed assistant in the surgical clinic directed by Juvara and, later, by . A few years later Hortolomei went back to Paris for specialization in urology in the clinic of Félix Legueu. During the Romanian campaign of World War I he organized field hospitals in Moldavia, together with Iacob Iacobovici. After the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, he was appointed head of the surgery department at the Gubernial Hospital in ChiÃÂinÃÂu. In 1920, he became professor of surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of IaÃÂi. Among his students there were Vladimir BuÃÂureanu, Gheorghe Chipail, Oscar Franche, and Gheorghe PlÃÂcinteanu.
In 1930, Hortolomei transferred to the Colentina Hospital in Bucharest, while in 1933 he became director of the surgery and urology clinic at ColÃÂea Hospital and professor at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. His students included Theodor Burghele, , , and .
From 1939 to 1940, Hortolomei served as Minister of Health in the Gheorghe TÃÂtÃÂrescu government. He was elected titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1948. He was also a member of the French Académie nationale de chirurgie.
He died in Bucharest on January 3, 1961. The coffin was deposited in the hall of the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy, and the burial took place on January 5, at Bellu Cemetery, with military honors. In Contemporanul, the poet Tudor Arghezi dedicated a tablet to him, in which he wrote: "Hortolomei closed his eyes in the minute when time passes by, at midnight, in the beginning of the year. I would have been told that he was raising his glass to the health of man and mankind."