Kiril Bratanov

Kiril Tsochev Bratanov (Bulgarian: Кирил Цочев Братанов) (1911-1986) was a prominent Bulgarian biologist and pioneer in the area of immunology of reproduction.

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He was born on March 5, 1911, in the town of Lukovit, Bulgaria, and studied veterinary medicine at the University of Sofia. After receiving his doctoral degree in 1935, he spent two years as a veterinarian in the village Dermantsi. His academic career began in 1940 when he became Assistant Professor at the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sofia. Between 1948 and 1976, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Artificial Insemination at the School of Zootechnology, University of Agricultural Sciences in Sofia. Kiril Bratanov also held positions as President of the University of Agricultural Sciences (1956-1962) and Vice-President of the Bulgarian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1962-1972).

In 1967, he became a full member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Academician). He was also elected Honorary Member of the French Academy of Veterinary Sciences, the German Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine, the Spanish Royal Academy of Veterinary Sciences, the Italian Society of Veterenary Science, and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the Soviet Union.

Between 1943 and 1986, Kiril Bratanov was director of the Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction and Development of Organisms at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Today the Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction "Acad. Kiril Bratanov" bears his name in honor of his contributions to science.

In September 1967, Kiril Bratanov and his closest collaborators, after intensive correspondence with other researchers in reproductive immunology, convened the First Symposium on Immunology of Spermatozoa and Fertilization in Varna, Bulgaria. Participants from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, UK, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, USA, USSR, and Yugoslavia attended the symposium. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) were also represented. During the symposium, the International Coordination Committee for Immunology of Reproduction (ICCIR) was founded.

In 1969 the ICCIR held a smaller meeting on "Immunology and Reproduction" at the WHO headquarters in Geneva and elected the ICCIR Steering Committee with Kiril Bratanov as president. The main aim of ICCIR has been to coordinate research in the area of reproductive immunobiology across the world and to periodically hold international symposia in Varna. Such meetings took place in 1971, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1997, 2000 and 2003 drawing scores of participants from 15-20 countries and have thus become a major forum in the area of experimental and clinical reproductive biology and immunology in humans and animals. In honor of its founder and past president, ICCIR awards the medal "Kiril Bratanov" (shown on the right) to researchers with outstanding contributions to reproductive immunobiology. The 11th International Symposium for Immunology of Reproduction was held on June 2-4, 2006, in Varna.

At the 3rd symposium on Immunology and Reproduction in 1975, the International Society for Immunology of Reproduction (ISIR) was founded at the proposal of Kiril Bratanov who was elected as its first president. At the 3rd ISIR Congress in 1986 in Toronto, Professor Rupert Billingham, an immunologist and one of the pioneers in organ transplantation, said:

"Let us never forget that, was it not for Bulgaria, was it not for our dear friend Kiril, we would have never gathered here as a research community to deal with such an important problem for humanity, the immunology of reproduction…"

Important Works

• Kyril Bratanov: Biobibliography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 1984.