[The Constantinople Imperial Bacteriology Institute]

The Constantinople Imperial Bacteriology Institute (CIBI) allowed the development of a common medical effort between France and Turkey at a time when the main European powers were competing to have an influence on the Ottoman Empire. In 1887, Turkey sent Zoreos Pacha, a medical doctor, to Paris to learn anti-rabies immunization techniques, and he started a rabies control institute after his coming back. In 1893, a cholera epidemic in Constantinople was vanquished by A. Chantemesse, sent by Pasteur, and France was allowed to start another microbiologic Institute. The first director of this Constantinople Imperial Bacteriology Institute was Maurice Nicolle. A brillant man, but suffering from a lack of diplomacy; he encountered numerous difficulties and regularly threatened to turn in his resignation. His successor, Paul Remlinger, arrived in 1900. His main research topic was rabies, and he became later a world-class expert on the subject. His position was taken over in 1911 by Paul-Louis Simond, unjustly forgotten nowadays despite his major discovery in 1898 showing that the plague was transmitted by ratfleas. The next director was a veterinary doctor, P. Forgeot, but his tenure was cut short by World War I, and he was the last French director of the CIBI. Since that time, Turkey has felt some gratitude towards France for its medical efforts. It organized in 1957 in Istambul a very congenial celebration for the 70th anniversary of the Rabies Control Institute, which numerous Pasteur Institute alumni attended. There is a clear contrast between the CIBI, the target of many intrigues and hostile maneuvers, and the North African Pasteur Institutes, which were making crucial discoveries during the same period. This contrast was mostly due to the absolute power of the Sultan, who would arbitrarily oppose some directors decisions, whereas the French government allowed the balanced growth of the Pasteur Institutes in territories under his control.