Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)

Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and the founder of microbiology and vaccination.

Pasteur received a bachelor of arts and sciences from the Royal College of Besançon and a doctorate from the École Normale in Paris, then spent several years as a researcher and teacher at the Lycée de Dijon. In 1848 he became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, and in the following year began to study the nature of wine fermentation, which began his revolutionary journey of most important scientific discoveries.

He invented a way to kill bacteria by boiling and then cooling the liquid, a process known today as pasteurization. Pasteur discovered the first vaccine in 1879 when he was exposed to a disease called chicken cholera. By accidentally exposing chickens to a weakened form of the culture, he demonstrated that they became resistant to the actual virus. Pasteur subsequently expanded his theory of germs and developed causes and vaccines against anthrax, cholera, tuberculosis, and smallpox, and the success of Pasteur's rabies vaccine in 1885 brought him worldwide fame.

Louis Pasteur's contribution to science, technology and medicine cannot be overemphasized. He pioneered the study of molecular asymmetry; discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease; invented the process of pasteurization; saved the brewing, wine and silk industries in France; developed vaccines against the dreaded diseases anthrax and rabies, which saved millions of lives.

In 1873, Pasteur was elected an associate member of the Academy of Medicine, in 1882 - a member of the French Academy, and in 1888 in Paris was opened the Pasteur Institute. He was also awarded France's highest honor, the Legion of Honor.