Oswaldo Cruz Oswaldo Cruz Oswaldo Gonçalves Cruz, better known as Oswaldo Cruz (; August 5, 1872 in São Luís do Paraitinga, São Paulo province, Brazil – February 11, 1917 in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro state), was a Brazilian physician, pioneer bacteriologist, epidemiologist and public health officer and the founder of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute. He occupied the fifth chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1912 until his death in 1917. Oswaldo Gonçalves Cruz was born on August 5, 1872 in São Luis do Paraitinga, a small city in São Paulo Province, to the physician Bento Gonçalvez Cruz and Amália Bulhões
Oswaldo Cruz Hygiene and Demography in Berlin, Cruz was awarded with the gold medal in recognition of the sanitation of Rio de Janeiro. In 1909, he retired from the position as director general for Public Health, dedicating himself exclusively to the Manguinhos Institute, which has been named after him. From the institute he organized important scientific expeditions, which allowed a better knowledge about the health and life conditions in the interior of the country and contributed to the colonization of regions. Cruz eradicated urban yellow fever in the state of Pará. His sanitation campaign in the state of Amazonas allowed concluding the