David Gruby

Who was David Gruby?

David Gruby was a Hungarian physician born in the village of Kis-Kér. He received his doctorate in Vienna and performed scientific research in Paris.

Gruby is remembered as a pioneer in the fields of microbiology and medical mycology. Most of his important work was done during the 1840s. In 1841 he described the fungus associated with favus, a discovery that was independent of Johann Lukas Schönlein's findings. Later, the fungal parasite was called Achorion schoenleinii in Schönlein's honor.

In 1842 he described a microscopic cryptogam that is associated with a dermatological disease known as sycosis barbae. Gruby also discovered Candida albicans, the cause of candidiasis, and in 1843 he described a fungus that is the cause of a type of ringworm. This fungus was named after naturalist Jean Victor Audouin.

Gruby also discovered a parasite in the blood of frogs he called Trypanosoma sanguinis. During the early years of anaesthesia, he performed important experiments with chloroform and ether on animals.