Life story
Sir Alexander Fleming was born on 6 August 1881 in Scotland, into a world that had yet to find its defence against the infections that claimed so many lives. From these beginnings he would rise to become a physician and microbiologist of lasting renown.
Fleming devoted his career to the study of the unseen agents of disease. His patient observation in the laboratory placed him at the frontier of medicine, where careful attention to the ordinary could yield discoveries of extraordinary consequence.
In 1928 he discovered what was later named benzylpenicillin, drawn from the mould Penicillium rubens, the first antibiotic substance ever discovered. This finding has been described as the single greatest victory ever achieved over disease, and for it he shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases.
Alexander Fleming died on 11 March 1955 in London and was laid to rest in St Paul's Cathedral. His discovery has spared countless lives across the generations that followed, and his name endures as one of the great benefactors of humankind.
Životopisné údaje z verejných zdrojov. Portrét: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Constellation of Life
Important milestones that shaped their journey.