This research note presents a preliminary evaluation of the life history of Georg Carl Adolf Bleyer, physician, hygienist and naturalist who played a crucial role in the institution of public health in Santa Catarina and was a pioneer in tropical medicine, anthropology and archeology of Brazil. Adolpho Lutz was one of the main partners in Brazil of this equally multifaceted physician who published important articles in German journals. His most thorough study was important to the history of the disciplines with which he worked; it provides the basis for understanding the conditions of medical and scientific practice in places far from the urban centers of southeastern Brazil that dominate the historiography of medicine and science.
Georg Carl Adolf Bleyer; tropical medicine; history of public health; indians of Brazil; history of microbiology
