Stamen Grigorov is the man who discovered and has the title of discovering the bacteria that creates the world’s most favorite food i.e. Yogurt. We take a look at the man and delve a little deeper.

Stamen Grigorov

Stamen Grigorov was a microbiologist by profession. His curiosity brought us the Lactobacillus bulgaricus, coupled with a little bit of homesickness and reminisce. 

Very soon after microbiolist, Stamen Grigorov got married in Bulgaria, he left his home and went to join a job in his graduate medical school Medical University of Geneva. 

The school was in Switzerland, so he had to leave his newly married home to go to another country. 

The new job was a research assistant job and to remember his wife with something, Stamen Grigorov took with himself a clay pot of his newly married bride’s Bulgarian yogurt, which was homemade. 

The Initial Discovery

It should be noted that historically, yogurt was a central and integral part of food in Bulgaria at the time, and had been since centuries. 

Households used to make their own yogurt and while making they used to put them in clay pots. 

Such was the same clay pot which Stamen received from Mrs. Grigorov when he left his home for a foreign country.

Around that time at the turn of the 20th century, there were also researches which were already announcing remarkable claims about the health benefits of yogurt.

This attention and importance got Stamen Grigorov’s curiosity sparked, and while maybe remembering his newly wed wife, he put some yogurt on a slide and resisting to taste it (maybe), he took a microscopic look. 

But Who Was Stamen Grigorov?

The microbiologist and physician was born on 27th October 1878. He was a renowned personality and was born in a peaceful village of Pernik Province of Bulgaria. 

He completed his education (secondary) in Natural Sciences from Montpellier, France. He then went on to complete his graduation in the medical field in Geneva, Switzerland. 

At the age of 27, Stamen Grigorov discovered the bacteria which is responsible for creating yogurt.

The Discovery of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus

It was the year 1905 in which a young newly wed Stamen Grigorov worked in the microbiological laboratory of Professor Leon Massol. 

After he put a slide of yogurt under a microscope, he discovered that a particular strain of bacteria was responsible for the famed food.

It was soon that the bacteria produced was then owned by a state-owned company which patented the bacteria. 

The company promoted a blend of bacteria strain which is labeled as the official Bulgarian yogurt. 

This is exported to many countries around the world, raising many profits for the country.

Trivia

Surprisingly, the core motivation behind this discovery, which was Stamen Grigorov’s wife, is lost in history. 

We do not know how his wife reacted when the famed microbiologist discovered such a vital bacteria from her homemade yogurt. 

This particular yogurt made history and not only did it bring Bulgaria to the map, it also changed the whole country’s industry. 

But it should be stated that the discovery took hours and hours of staring into the lens of a microscope. 

In the year 1905, the microbiologist discovered the rod-shaped bacteria that transforms milk into yogurt. 

The bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus feasts on lactose, and then it produces a specific set of fatty acids. 

As a result, we are left with a thick, slightly creamy type of substance that makes tasty food which is enjoyed around the world. 

Before The Discovery

It has been noted since early times that farmers and people have fed their families with dairy products for thousands of years. 

Maybe it was accidental that products of milk were discovered, but this creamy and transformed product is the value which fermented milk brings. 

Bulgaria, the Middle East and central Asia all have a history of such converted dairy products. 

Especially where geography allows such products to form, such as in hot climates, these types of products are found. 

These are places where the bulgaricus bacteria flourished and feeds on lactose to bring forward yogurt. 

Legacy of Stamen Grigorov

A glacier is named Grigorov Glacier and is on Brabant Island in Antarctica. This is named after Stamen Grigorov. 

Stamen Grigorov has also contributed to the treatment of tuberculosis. This happened in the year 1906 with Albert Calmette. 

They decided to use penicillin fungi for the treatment. Stamen used experiments on lab animals and then on human trials to showcase the benefits of penicillin fungi. 

This was done in the treatment of tuberculosis. 

What Was Yogurt Before the Discovery?

Right before Stamen Grigorov’s discovery of lactobacillus bulgaricus in the year 1905, there were some scientists who were publishing papers regarding longevity in lifetime offered by such yogurt. 

This was the time when people outside Europe and the Middle East weren’t aware of the term yogurt. 

Because Stamen Grigorov played a vital role in providing scientific backing to Bulgarian yogurt along with other scientists, the introduction of yogurt took the unaware part of Europe off their feet. 

This scientifically proven healthy yogurt was fast becoming the choice of enthusiasts.

Commercial Yogurt Produced Some Discrepancies

Soon by the 1920s, yogurt became commercialized. This publicly available yogurt was found not to be quite up to the mark of the Bulgarian yogurt which played a vital part in Stamen Grigorov’s discovery. 

Commercial producers were using cow milk instead of sheep which proved to be the main difference. 

Bulgarian people used sheep’s milk and used their own batches of the bulgaricus strain while industrial and vast production proved to be different from homemade strains.

This was maybe because of strict standardized procedures used by industries. As is found commonly, household processes are different from industrialized processes.

Such as, it introduces measurements, scales and other SOPs to produce their version of superior products, while households use processes which include microflora found naturally.

Yogurt as We Know it Today

After witnessing this change, Bulgarian state decided to take action. Bulgarian yogurt was gaining popularity day by day and had almost become a national icon for the country. 

The country had also freshly been absorbed into the Warsaw Pact and vast Soviet influence.

1949 saw Bulgarian state’s microbiologists visiting households and sampling various strains of bulgaricus to find the best fit of them all. 

This was done to create an official yogurt with which Bulgaria would be known for. 

Till date, Bulgaria owns the patented strain of the discovered strain by Stamen Grigorov which is widely popular. It also holds sole export rights.

On his 67th birthday, Stamen Grigorov met his demise on 27th October 1945. 

Recently, Google also celebrated the late microbiologist, and people around the world will remember him every time they taste yogurt as their choice of food.