Daniel MOTOI, Ways of Dealing with Personal and Public Hygiene in Craiova, in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Daniel MOTOI
PhD Candidate, “Valahia” University of Târgovişte, Faculty of Humanities, Department of History;
E-mail: danielmotoi@yahoo.com

Abstract
In Craiova, at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century the rivers which carried the toxic wastes of the local industry across the town, the swamp created at the edge of the city by the local Craioviţa Pond or the summer’s dusty streets had the effect of keeping the mortality at higher rates. Every year, an important percent of the city’s population died of tuberculosis, cholera, gastroenteritis, angina or venereal diseases. Since the local sanitary system was unable to solve this problem, an important role was given to the education system, which acted constantly on two significant directions: offering a healthy and hygienic environment in which the pupils could learn and teaching the same pupils – the citizens to come – the virtues of personal hygiene.

Keywords
hygiene, sanitary system, education system, diseases, pupils.