@inbook{
author = "Чоловић, Радоје and Арсић Арсенијевић, Валентина",
year = "2020",
abstract = "Simo Milošević was born on September 5th, 1896, in the small town
Kamenari in the Bay of Boka Kotorska (Boka) where he fi nished primary
school. He started Classical Gymnasium in Kotor but fi nished it in Zadar. He
trained at Zadar Th eological Seminary which was almost at the rank of
Th eological Faculty. In 1918 he enrolled at the Faculty of Philosophy, the
Department of Biology in Belgrade, but in 1920 he signed over to the newly
founded School of Medicine. During studies, he volunteered at the Dermatology
and Venereology Clinic where he started research into the origins of
dermatovenerologic diseases and their characteristics. He graduated (1926) as
the 12th student of his generation and started working as a secondary care
doctor, at the Chemotherapy Unit of the Bacteriological Department of the
Central Institute for Hygiene (CIH) in Belgrade. He won a Rockefeller grant
(1928) and started his specialist studies in Hamburg. He completed research in
Paris, at the Paris School of Medicine (1930), where he worked with renowned
professors of parasitology and mycology. Under Professor Vigren supervision
he completed a course on the production of glassware apparatus used in
medicine. At the Pasteur Institute in Paris, he completed courses in
microbiology and biochemistry and the applications of industrial fermentation.
Aft er returning to Belgrade he founded the Medical Mycological Laboratory
within the Department of Parasitology of the CIH (1930) and it was the fi rst
specialized laboratory in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the region.
Because of his “left ist” and anti-regime political activities, he was
arrested (1932) and sent to prison by the State Court. International scientifi c
circles, especially the scientists from Paris and Professor Langeron in particular,
objected his detention and he was released. Due to notable scientifi c research
results he got a second Rockefeller grant which enabled him to continue
scientifi c work at the Paris School of Medicine. Th ere he was elected“foreign
assistant extraordinaire” at the Department of Parasitology and Natural History
(1936) which was a prestigious title bestowed upon foreign researchers. During
long term scientifi c collaboration with Professor Langeron he produced his
most important scientifi c results. Additionally, he developed close and lasting
friendship with Professor Langeron who respected very much his work. Out of
this respect, Langeron named a newly discovered species of dermatophyte
Achorion (Trichophyton) milochevitchi.
On February 3rd, 1937, the School of Medicine, University of Belgrade,
appointed Simo Milošević to the position of an associate professor of
parasitology. At the time medical parasitology included multiple branches such
as helminthology, protozoology and arachno-entomology and phytoparasitology (namely medical mycology). Milošević was very dedicated
to teaching, not only of university students but also of secondary school ones
for whom he wrote several textbooks on hygiene, two for upper-class schools
and two for gymnasiums. He was an honorary president of the Yugoslav
Association of Medical Students who saw him not only as a teacher but also as
a guardian and a friend. Aft er the signing of the Tripartite Pact, Simo Milošević
gave a fi ery speech by the Vuk Monument on March 27th, 1941 and invited the
citizens of Belgrade to protest against the regime. He soon left Belgrade and
went to Boka where he set out to organize rebellions against the Italian
occupation forces. Together with Professor Niko Miljanić, he founded a
hospital in the town of Risan where resistance fi ghters and wounded partisan
were treated. In 1942, Milošević joined the Headquarters of Partisan units of
Montenegro and was put in charge of the health services. He soon set up a
partisan hospital near the town of Nikšić and became the Head of the Sanitary
Unit for Montenegro and Boka. In September of 1942, he retreated to Bosnia,
with the partisans. He organized the First Congress of the Partisan Physicians
in the town of Bosanski Petrovac at which he submitted a report on the
sanitary-epidemiological situation in the army and on the organization of the
civilian health services. At the First Session of AVNOJ in Bihać, he was elected
a member of the Executive Board and the organizer of the health service for the
people, for which he developed thorough instructions in the war conditions.
His eff orts in the organization of the health service of the Partisan units were
hampered by constant fi ghting, known as the fourth and the fi ft h enemy
off ensives. As a soldier of the 3rd Fighter Division, he was wounded in the Battle
of Sutjeska. He and Ivan Goran Kovačić (famous writer) reached the vicinity of
the town of Foča, in Bosnia, where they hid for a while. Th ey were soon found
and executed by the Chetniks, in June or July of 1943.
In general, Simo Milošević is better known as a partisan doctor than a
scientist. Unfortunately, even our medical professionals did not have, nor do
they still have, an accurate insight into the scientifi c achievements of Simo
Milošević. Th e fi rst analysis of his contributions to the medicine, primarily
medical mycology, was made by his student and successor in the department,
Professor Milovanović. A much more comprehensive analysis of his research
achievements was conducted by Grin and Ožegović (1958), and published as the
English edition by the Springer Publishing Company. In the edition History of
Medical Mycology Luciano Polonelli stated that the Еpidermophyton fl occosum
type of dermatophyte fungus was described and classifi ed by Langeron and
Milošević (1930). Th e scientifi c achievement of Simo Milošević is still not
recognized nor appreciated enough. Th us, the biological classifi cation of
dermatophyte, published by Langeron and Milošević (1930) is attributed to the
American scientist Chester Emmons who came up with it few years later (1937). During the 17 years of scientifi c activities Simo Milošević primarily
studied human infectious diseases and agents. He initially started with bacteria,
and his experimental work proved that diff erent variations of bacteria can be
obtained by using the fi ltration of bacterial or fungal cultures, He analyzed
causative agent of tuberculosis and concluded that their genetic changes are
possible reasons for epidemic outbreaks. Moreover, he demonstrated that
fi ltrate from culture of fungus Aspergillus decrease acid resistance of this
bacteria. In medical mycology fi eld Milošević examined immunological
mechanisms important for the treatment of patients with dermatophytosis, the
eff ect of environmental factors on fungal growth, fungicidal properties of
certain compounds, and the appearance of pleomorphisms in the
dermatophytes. He introduced new sampling methods for the laboratory study
of dermatophytes and developed new simple procedures for laboratory
examinations of clinical samples. Milošević also worked on the public health
aspects of infectious diseases, the issues of hygiene, epidemiology and
prevention of infection. He upgraded the guidelines of the health service
organization, and promoted the importance of education of physicians and the
population. His papers stood up with clarity and accuracy of theoretical
hypothesis, and his practical guidelines provided easy solutions for laboratory
work. He applied various methods of research; observation, case series analysis,
cohort studies and laboratory experimental studies, but the most signifi cant
results came from laboratory based investigations. Th e key results were
observed in a series of properly selected and clearly systematized clinical cases
of dermatomycosis by analyzing a large number of patients in former
Yugoslavia. He collected a lot of clinically signifi cant fungi, and through
experimental work he established laboratory criteria for the classifi cation of
dermatophytes and their simple and precise taxonomy which was until then
based only on clinical aspects. Th ese accomplishments were achieved in
collaboration with great scientists such as Sabouraud, Ot, Matruchot,
Dassonville, Harz, Brumpt, and Langeron, His most prominent contribution to
the medical mycology was determination of criteria for classifi cation of
dermatophytes which enabled the appropriate classification of several
important species: Epidermophyton floccosum (Hаrz) (Langeron еt
Milochevitch 1934), Тrichophyton schoenleinii (Lebert) (Langeron et
Milochevitch 1930), and Trichophyton ferrugineum (Ota) (Langeron et
Milochevitch 1930). Besides classifying already discovered species he identifi ed
completely new dermatophyte in his patients: Тrichophyton langeronii (1931),
Тrichophyton bossae (1935) and Тrichophyton immergens (1937). He published
research results (1928–1940) simultaneously in French scientifi c journals
Annales de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparee and Mycopatologia and in
Serbian medical journals Medicinski pregled (Medical Review) and Glasnik Centralnog higijenskog zavoda (Th e Gazette of the Central Institute for Hygiene).
Majority of these publications (circa 50) related to the medical mycology,
mostly to the laboratory criteria for dermatophyte systematization, and have
been cited in numerous international and national journals and books. How
signifi cant is his contribution to the medicine, primarily to the medical
mycology is the fact that the group of dermatophytes which Milošević reclassifi
ed and identifi ed in 1930 have been recently confi rmed by molecular
classifi cation.",
publisher = "Београд : Српска академија наука и уметности",
journal = "Живот и дело српских научника",
booktitle = "Симо Милошевић : (1896–1943)",
pages = "279-335",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_10434"
}
