Stamen Grigorov the “inventor” of yogurt celebrated by Google’s doodle

Stamen Grigorov’s 142nd birthday

Tuesday marked the 142nd birthday of Stamen Grigorov. The Google Doodle, which was created by the illustrator Helene Leroux, features Stamen Grigorov. An animation cartoon fox named Kuma Lisa inspired the doodle. Dr Grigorov was born in western Bulgaria in 1878. 27 years later he discovered the bacteria that is essential for the fermentation of milk into yogurt. For centuries Yogurt has been part of people’s diet in the Balkan lands. Some of the world’s oldest evidence of fermented milk comes from places like Bulgaria, the Middle East and central Asia. Places where the climate is just right for the bacterium to flourish and turn milk into yogurt. However Stamen Grigorov’s discovery played a big role in making it a widely consumed product in the west.

Portrait of Stamen Grigorov

The cause of fermentation

It was while working in the Medical University of Geneva in Switzerland that Dr Grigorov started his research. After hearing impressive claims about yogurt’s health benefits, Stamen Grigorov decided to analyse his wife’s farewell gift : a pot of homemade Bulgarian yogurt. A pot of yogurt that would make history. He discovered a rod-shaped bacterium that feasts on the lactose in milk, producing fatty acids. In honor of the microbiologist’s home country Lactobacillus bulgaricus became the new bacterium name.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLrG0uWdMf8]

Grigorov : a national icon

Not only was the bacterium named after Statem Grigorov’s home country, but in 2007, his hometown, village of Studen Izvor, became home to one of the world’s only yogurt museums. The same village also held a yogurt festival on the 110th anniversary of the discovery, where locals displayed homemade yogurt and cheese. As a result, today yogurt is a symbol of Bulgaria’s national identity.

A year later, in 1906, Dr. Grigorov’s yogurt discovery led to demonstrating the healing effect of penicillin fungi in the treatment of tuberculosis. Consequently creating the first tuberculosis vaccine, along with Albert Calmette.

Lola Erin Ramsden

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