First Physician to use Smallpox Vaccine in Lithuania, Educator, Author. His father was John Louis Becu, who was knighted in 1775, and his mother was Carolina Heinów; they were French Protestants. After graduating from high school, he graduated with honors from the University of Vilnius, in 1789 received his Doctorate in Philosophy and in 1793 received his Doctorate in Medicine. He started lecturing in 1797 and in 1806 became a professor at the University of Vilnius. From 1798 to 1814, he served as a physician at the Daughters of Charity Hospital in Vilnius. In 1803, he published a brochure on a vaccination discovered by Dr. Edward Jenner to prevent smallpox; this was use to educate other medical personnel. Dr. Becu was the first physician in Lithuania to use the vaccine, which was a miracle drug since thousands of people a year had succumbed to smallpox. He was a co-founder and from 1811, president of the Vilnius Medical Society. From 1805 to 1824, he was a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Science. While napping in his apartment, he was killed by a meteorological phenomenon called a lightening ball. His first wife was a Miss Pilar and they had two daughters. His second wife was the beautiful and talented widow Salomea Slovak, the mother of Julius Słowacki, noted poet; Julius was eight-years-old when the couple wedded. Dr. Becu was portrayed as the physician in Adam Mickiewicz' "Grandfather Part III", a drama published in 1832. Although some biographies have his date of death in September, the grave marker has the date as August 26, 1824 Julian calendar.
First Physician to use Smallpox Vaccine in Lithuania, Educator, Author. His father was John Louis Becu, who was knighted in 1775, and his mother was Carolina Heinów; they were French Protestants. After graduating from high school, he graduated with honors from the University of Vilnius, in 1789 received his Doctorate in Philosophy and in 1793 received his Doctorate in Medicine. He started lecturing in 1797 and in 1806 became a professor at the University of Vilnius. From 1798 to 1814, he served as a physician at the Daughters of Charity Hospital in Vilnius. In 1803, he published a brochure on a vaccination discovered by Dr. Edward Jenner to prevent smallpox; this was use to educate other medical personnel. Dr. Becu was the first physician in Lithuania to use the vaccine, which was a miracle drug since thousands of people a year had succumbed to smallpox. He was a co-founder and from 1811, president of the Vilnius Medical Society. From 1805 to 1824, he was a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Science. While napping in his apartment, he was killed by a meteorological phenomenon called a lightening ball. His first wife was a Miss Pilar and they had two daughters. His second wife was the beautiful and talented widow Salomea Slovak, the mother of Julius Słowacki, noted poet; Julius was eight-years-old when the couple wedded. Dr. Becu was portrayed as the physician in Adam Mickiewicz' "Grandfather Part III", a drama published in 1832. Although some biographies have his date of death in September, the grave marker has the date as August 26, 1824 Julian calendar.
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