Contents
Alexander Fleming
Discovering penicillin’s antibacterial effect.
Antibiotics · Medical research
- Born
- 6 August 1881
- Birthplace
- Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland
- Died
- 11 March 1955
More people
Alexander Fleming
A Scottish physician whose observation of bacteria near a mould colony opened a path towards penicillin medicines.
Early life
Farm childhood
Grew up in rural Ayrshire.
Office to medicine
Worked in a shipping office before entering St Mary’s medical school in London.
Career
- 1906
Medical qualification
Qualified at St Mary’s and entered laboratory research.
- 1914–1918
Military medicine
Studied infection while serving during the First World War.
- 1928
Professor
Became professor of bacteriology at St Mary’s.
Contributions
Lysozyme
Identified an enzyme with antibacterial activity.
Penicillin observation
Noticed mould inhibiting bacterial growth.
Nobel Prize
Shared recognition with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain for penicillin’s development.
Beyond the lab
Family
His son Robert also became a doctor.
Recognition
Was knighted in 1944.
Sources & photo credit
Biographical reference ↗Achievement reference ↗Photo: Official photographer. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
