Louis Pasteur

1765

Spallanzani's experiments in 1765 suggested that air contaminated broths with bacteria.

1790

Edward Jenner had also studied vaccination using cowpox (vaccinia) to give cross-immunity to smallpox in the late 1790s, and by the early 1800s vaccination had spread to most of Europe. The difference between smallpox vaccination and anthrax or chicken cholera vaccination was that the latter two disease organisms had been artificially weakened, so a naturally weak form of the disease organism did not need to be found.

1800

Edward Jenner had also studied vaccination using cowpox (vaccinia) to give cross-immunity to smallpox in the late 1790s, and by the early 1800s vaccination had spread to most of Europe. The difference between smallpox vaccination and anthrax or chicken cholera vaccination was that the latter two disease organisms had been artificially weakened, so a naturally weak form of the disease organism did not need to be found.

1822

Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization.

Historical reassessment of his notebook revealed that he practiced deception to overcome his rivals. ==Education and early life== Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a Catholic family of a poor tanner.

1826

The family moved to Marnoz in 1826 and then to Arbois in 1827.

1827

The family moved to Marnoz in 1826 and then to Arbois in 1827.

1830

In the 1830s, Charles Cagniard-Latour, Friedrich Traugott Kützing and Theodor Schwann used microscopes to study yeasts and concluded that yeasts were living organisms.

1831

Pasteur entered primary school in 1831. He was an average student in his early years, and not particularly academic, as his interests were fishing and sketching.

1838

In October 1838, he left for Paris to join the Pension Barbet, but became homesick and returned in November. In 1839, he entered the Collège Royal at Besançon to study philosophy and earned his Bachelor of Letters degree in 1840.

1839

In October 1838, he left for Paris to join the Pension Barbet, but became homesick and returned in November. In 1839, he entered the Collège Royal at Besançon to study philosophy and earned his Bachelor of Letters degree in 1840.

In 1839, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler and Jöns Jacob Berzelius stated that yeast was not an organism and was produced when air acted on plant juice. In 1855, Antoine Béchamp, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Montpellier, conducted experiments with sucrose solutions and concluded that water was the factor for fermentation.

1840

In October 1838, he left for Paris to join the Pension Barbet, but became homesick and returned in November. In 1839, he entered the Collège Royal at Besançon to study philosophy and earned his Bachelor of Letters degree in 1840.

1841

He failed his first examination in 1841.

1842

He managed to pass the baccalauréat scientifique (general science) degree in 1842 from Dijon but with a mediocre grade in chemistry. Later in 1842, Pasteur took the entrance test for the École Normale Supérieure.

1843

In 1843, he passed the test with a high ranking and entered the École Normale Supérieure.

1845

In 1845 he received the licencié ès sciences degree.

1846

In 1846, he was appointed professor of physics at the Collège de Tournon (now called Lycée Gabriel-Faure) in Ardèche.

1847

He joined Balard and simultaneously started his research in crystallography and in 1847, he submitted his two thesis, one in chemistry and the other in physics. After serving briefly as professor of physics at the Dijon Lycée in 1848, he became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he met and courted Marie Laurent, daughter of the university's rector in 1849.

1848

He joined Balard and simultaneously started his research in crystallography and in 1847, he submitted his two thesis, one in chemistry and the other in physics. After serving briefly as professor of physics at the Dijon Lycée in 1848, he became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he met and courted Marie Laurent, daughter of the university's rector in 1849.

They were married on May 29, 1849, and together had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood; the other three died of typhoid. ==Career== Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and became the chair of chemistry in 1852.

In Paris, he established the Pasteur Institute in 1887, in which he was its director for the rest of his life. ==Research== ===Molecular asymmetry=== In Pasteur's early work as a chemist, beginning at the École Normale Supérieure, and continuing at Strasbourg and Lille, he examined the chemical, optical and crystallographic properties of a group of compounds known as tartrates. He resolved a problem concerning the nature of tartaric acid in 1848.

1849

He joined Balard and simultaneously started his research in crystallography and in 1847, he submitted his two thesis, one in chemistry and the other in physics. After serving briefly as professor of physics at the Dijon Lycée in 1848, he became professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he met and courted Marie Laurent, daughter of the university's rector in 1849.

They were married on May 29, 1849, and together had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood; the other three died of typhoid. ==Career== Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and became the chair of chemistry in 1852.

1850

In the late 1850s, he performed experiments and claimed that they were evidence of spontaneous generation.

1852

They were married on May 29, 1849, and together had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood; the other three died of typhoid. ==Career== Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and became the chair of chemistry in 1852.

1853

Since 1853, two diseases called pébrine and flacherie had been infecting great numbers of silkworms in southern France, and by 1865 they were causing huge losses to farmers.

One source estimates the probability of Meister contracting rabies at 10%. ==Awards and honours== Pasteur was awarded 1,500 francs in 1853 by the Pharmaceutical Society for the synthesis of racemic acid.

Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. ===Legacy=== In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor.

1854

In 1854, he was named dean of the new faculty of sciences at University of Lille, where he began his studies on fermentation.

1855

In 1839, Justus von Liebig, Friedrich Wöhler and Jöns Jacob Berzelius stated that yeast was not an organism and was produced when air acted on plant juice. In 1855, Antoine Béchamp, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Montpellier, conducted experiments with sucrose solutions and concluded that water was the factor for fermentation.

1856

In 1856 a local wine manufacturer, M.

In 1856 the Royal Society of London presented him the Rumford Medal for his discovery of the nature of racemic acid and its relations to polarized light, and the Copley Medal in 1874 for his work on fermentation.

1857

It was on this occasion that Pasteur uttered his oft-quoted remark: "dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés" ("In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind"). In 1857, he moved to Paris as the director of scientific studies at the École Normale Supérieure where he took control from 1858 to 1867 and introduced a series of reforms to improve the standard of scientific work.

Bigot, whose son was one of Pasteur's students, sought for his advice on the problems of making beetroot alcohol and souring. According to his son-in-law, René Vallery-Radot, in August 1857 Pasteur sent a paper about lactic acid fermentation to the Société des Sciences de Lille, but the paper was read three months later.

A memoire was subsequently published on November 30, 1857.

He regarded himself as the first to show the role of microorganisms in fermentation. Pasteur started his experiments in 1857 and published his findings in 1858 (April issue of Comptes Rendus Chimie, Béchamp's paper appeared in January issue).

On the other hand, Béchamp was probably aware of Pasteur's 1857 preliminary works.

Though he lost elections in 1857 and 1861 for membership to the French Academy of Sciences, he won the 1862 election for membership to the mineralogy section.

1858

It was on this occasion that Pasteur uttered his oft-quoted remark: "dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés" ("In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind"). In 1857, he moved to Paris as the director of scientific studies at the École Normale Supérieure where he took control from 1858 to 1867 and introduced a series of reforms to improve the standard of scientific work.

It was published in full form in 1858.

He changed his conclusion in 1858, stating that fermentation was directly related to the growth of moulds, which required air for growth.

He regarded himself as the first to show the role of microorganisms in fermentation. Pasteur started his experiments in 1857 and published his findings in 1858 (April issue of Comptes Rendus Chimie, Béchamp's paper appeared in January issue).

1859

He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1869. The French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur the 1859 Montyon Prize for experimental physiology in 1860, and the Jecker Prize in 1861 and the Alhumbert Prize in 1862 for his experimental refutation of spontaneous generation.

1860

In the 1860s, Pasteur repeated Spallanzani's experiments, but Pouchet reported a different result using a different broth. Pasteur performed several experiments to disprove spontaneous generation.

In 1860, Marcellin Berthelot isolated invertase and showed that succinic acid did not invert sucrose.

He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1869. The French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur the 1859 Montyon Prize for experimental physiology in 1860, and the Jecker Prize in 1861 and the Alhumbert Prize in 1862 for his experimental refutation of spontaneous generation.

1861

In 1861, Pasteur observed that less sugar fermented per part of yeast when the yeast was exposed to air.

He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1869. The French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur the 1859 Montyon Prize for experimental physiology in 1860, and the Jecker Prize in 1861 and the Alhumbert Prize in 1862 for his experimental refutation of spontaneous generation.

Though he lost elections in 1857 and 1861 for membership to the French Academy of Sciences, he won the 1862 election for membership to the mineralogy section.

1862

For this experiment, the academy awarded him the Alhumbert Prize carrying 2,500 francs in 1862. Pasteur is also regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory of diseases, which was a minor medical concept at the time.

Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed tests on blood and urine on April 20, 1862.

Pasteur won the Alhumbert Prize in 1862.

He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1869. The French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur the 1859 Montyon Prize for experimental physiology in 1860, and the Jecker Prize in 1861 and the Alhumbert Prize in 1862 for his experimental refutation of spontaneous generation.

Though he lost elections in 1857 and 1861 for membership to the French Academy of Sciences, he won the 1862 election for membership to the mineralogy section.

1863

On another occasion he threatened to expel any student caught smoking, and 73 of the 80 students in the school resigned. In 1863, he was appointed professor of geology, physics, and chemistry at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, a position he held until his resignation in 1867.

Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. ===Legacy=== In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor.

1865

Pasteur patented the process, to fight the "diseases" of wine, in 1865.

Since 1853, two diseases called pébrine and flacherie had been infecting great numbers of silkworms in southern France, and by 1865 they were causing huge losses to farmers.

In 1865, Pasteur went to Alès and worked for five years until 1870. Silkworms with pébrine were covered in corpuscles.

1866

He proposed preventing the entry of micro-organisms into the human body, leading Joseph Lister to develop antiseptic methods in surgery. In 1866, Pasteur published Etudes sur le Vin, about the diseases of wine, and he published Etudes sur la Bière in 1876, concerning the diseases of beer. In the early 19th century, Agostino Bassi had shown that muscardine was caused by a fungus that infected silkworms.

1867

It was on this occasion that Pasteur uttered his oft-quoted remark: "dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés" ("In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind"). In 1857, he moved to Paris as the director of scientific studies at the École Normale Supérieure where he took control from 1858 to 1867 and introduced a series of reforms to improve the standard of scientific work.

On another occasion he threatened to expel any student caught smoking, and 73 of the 80 students in the school resigned. In 1863, he was appointed professor of geology, physics, and chemistry at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, a position he held until his resignation in 1867.

In 1867, he became the chair of organic chemistry at the Sorbonne, but he later gave up the position because of poor health.

In 1867, the École Normale's laboratory of physiological chemistry was created at Pasteur's request, and he was the laboratory's director from 1867 to 1888.

1868

Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. ===Legacy=== In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor.

1869

He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1869. The French Academy of Sciences awarded Pasteur the 1859 Montyon Prize for experimental physiology in 1860, and the Jecker Prize in 1861 and the Alhumbert Prize in 1862 for his experimental refutation of spontaneous generation.

1870

In 1865, Pasteur went to Alès and worked for five years until 1870. Silkworms with pébrine were covered in corpuscles.

In 1870, he concluded that the corpuscles were the cause of pébrine (it is now known that the cause is a microsporidian).

====Anthrax==== In the 1870s, he applied this immunization method to anthrax, which affected cattle, and aroused interest in combating other diseases.

1873

He was elected to permanent secretary of the physical science section of the academy in 1887 and held the position until 1889. In 1873 Pasteur was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médecine and was made the commander in the Brazilian Order of the Rose.

1874

In 1856 the Royal Society of London presented him the Rumford Medal for his discovery of the nature of racemic acid and its relations to polarized light, and the Copley Medal in 1874 for his work on fermentation.

1876

He proposed preventing the entry of micro-organisms into the human body, leading Joseph Lister to develop antiseptic methods in surgery. In 1866, Pasteur published Etudes sur le Vin, about the diseases of wine, and he published Etudes sur la Bière in 1876, concerning the diseases of beer. In the early 19th century, Agostino Bassi had shown that muscardine was caused by a fungus that infected silkworms.

This discovery revolutionized work in infectious diseases, and Pasteur gave these artificially weakened diseases the generic name of "vaccines", in honour of Jenner's discovery. In 1876, Robert Koch had shown that Bacillus anthracis caused anthrax.

1877

Pasteur had been trying to develop the anthrax vaccine since 1877, soon after Robert Koch's discovery of the bacterium. On 12 July 1880, Henri Bouley read before the French Academy of Sciences a report from Jean-Joseph-Henri Toussaint, a veterinary surgeon, who was not member of the academy.

1878

In his papers published between 1878 and 1880, Pasteur only mentioned Koch's work in a footnote.

Prior to this, few doctors or their assistants practiced these procedures. ==Controversies== A French national hero at age 55, in 1878 Pasteur discreetly told his family never to reveal his laboratory notebooks to anyone.

Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. ===Legacy=== In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor.

1879

In 1879, Pasteur, planning for holiday, instructed his assistant, Charles Chamberland to inoculate the chickens with fresh bacteria culture.

Toussaint isolated the bacteria that caused chicken cholera (later named Pasteurella in honour of Pasteur) in 1879 and gave samples to Pasteur who used them for his own works.

1880

It was clear to him that the weakened bacteria had caused the chickens to become immune to the disease. In December 1880, Pasteur presented his results to the French Academy of Sciences as "Sur les maladies virulentes et en particulier sur la maladie appelée vulgairement choléra des poules (On virulent diseases, and in particular on the disease commonly called chicken cholera)" and published it in the academy's journal (Comptes-Rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences).

Pasteur had been trying to develop the anthrax vaccine since 1877, soon after Robert Koch's discovery of the bacterium. On 12 July 1880, Henri Bouley read before the French Academy of Sciences a report from Jean-Joseph-Henri Toussaint, a veterinary surgeon, who was not member of the academy.

Upon hearing the news, Pasteur immediately wrote to the academy that he could not believe that dead vaccine would work and that Toussaint's claim "overturns all the ideas I had on viruses, vaccines, etc." Following Pasteur's criticism, Toussaint switched to carbolic acid to kill anthrax bacilli and tested the vaccine on sheep in August 1880.

In his papers published between 1878 and 1880, Pasteur only mentioned Koch's work in a footnote.

On July 12, 1880, Toussaint presented his successful result to the French Academy of Sciences, using an attenuated vaccine against anthrax in dogs and sheep.

1881

Pasteur gave a series of five presentations of his findings before the French Academy of Sciences in 1881, which were published in 1882 as Mémoire Sur les corpuscules organisés qui existent dans l'atmosphère: Examen de la doctrine des générations spontanées (Account of Organized Corpuscles Existing in the Atmosphere: Examining the Doctrine of Spontaneous Generation).

In early 1881, he discovered that growing anthrax bacilli at about 42 °C made them unable to produce spores, and he described this method in a speech to the French Academy of Sciences on February 28.

Koch met Pasteur at the Seventh International Medical Congress in 1881.

Eduard Buchner also discovered that fermentation could take place outside living cells. ===Anthrax vaccine=== Pasteur publicly claimed his success in developing the anthrax vaccine in 1881.

Pasteur on grounds of jealousy contested the discovery by publicly displaying his vaccination method at Pouilly-le-Fort on May 5, 1881.

In 1881 he was elected to a seat at the Académie française left vacant by Émile Littré.

Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. ===Legacy=== In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor.

1882

Pasteur gave a series of five presentations of his findings before the French Academy of Sciences in 1881, which were published in 1882 as Mémoire Sur les corpuscules organisés qui existent dans l'atmosphère: Examen de la doctrine des générations spontanées (Account of Organized Corpuscles Existing in the Atmosphere: Examining the Doctrine of Spontaneous Generation).

In 1882, Pasteur replied to Koch in a speech, to which Koch responded aggressively.

In 1882, Koch wrote "On the Anthrax Inoculation", in which he refuted several of Pasteur's conclusions about anthrax and criticized Pasteur for keeping his methods secret, jumping to conclusions, and being imprecise.

In 1883, Pasteur wrote that he used cultures prepared in a similar way to his successful fermentation experiments and that Koch misinterpreted statistics and ignored Pasteur's work on silkworms. ====Swine erysipelas==== In 1882, Pasteur sent his assistant Louis Thuillier to southern France because of an epizootic of swine erysipelas.

Pasteur received the Albert Medal from the Royal Society of Arts in 1882.

1883

In 1883, Pasteur wrote that he used cultures prepared in a similar way to his successful fermentation experiments and that Koch misinterpreted statistics and ignored Pasteur's work on silkworms. ====Swine erysipelas==== In 1882, Pasteur sent his assistant Louis Thuillier to southern France because of an epizootic of swine erysipelas.

Thuillier identified the bacillus that caused the disease in March 1883.

In 1883 he became foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1884

Roux described the bacterium as stick-shaped in 1884. ====Rabies==== Pasteur produced the first vaccine for rabies by growing the virus in rabbits, and then weakening it by drying the affected nerve tissue.

1885

This vaccine was used on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, on July 6, 1885, after the boy was badly mauled by a rabid dog.

Pasteur began treatment of Jean-Baptiste Jupille on October 20, 1885, and the treatment was successful.

Later in 1885, people, including four children from the United States, went to Pasteur's laboratory to be inoculated.

In 1885, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.

1886

In 1886, he treated 350 people, of which only one developed rabies.

On June 8, 1886, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II awarded Pasteur with the Order of the Medjidie (I Class) and 10000 Ottoman liras.

1887

His work led the way to the current understanding of a fundamental principle in the structure of organic compounds. He was the director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, until his death, and his body was interred in a vault beneath the institute.

In Paris, he established the Pasteur Institute in 1887, in which he was its director for the rest of his life. ==Research== ===Molecular asymmetry=== In Pasteur's early work as a chemist, beginning at the École Normale Supérieure, and continuing at Strasbourg and Lille, he examined the chemical, optical and crystallographic properties of a group of compounds known as tartrates. He resolved a problem concerning the nature of tartaric acid in 1848.

He started the experiment in 1887, and by the next year, was able to maintain a stable culture using broths.

He was elected to permanent secretary of the physical science section of the academy in 1887 and held the position until 1889. In 1873 Pasteur was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médecine and was made the commander in the Brazilian Order of the Rose.

In 1887, fundraising for the Pasteur Institute began, with donations from many countries.

The official statute was registered in 1887, stating that the institute's purposes were "the treatment of rabies according to the method developed by M.

1888

In 1867, the École Normale's laboratory of physiological chemistry was created at Pasteur's request, and he was the laboratory's director from 1867 to 1888.

The institute was inaugurated on November 14, 1888.

1889

He was elected to permanent secretary of the physical science section of the academy in 1887 and held the position until 1889. In 1873 Pasteur was elected to the Académie Nationale de Médecine and was made the commander in the Brazilian Order of the Rose.

He was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh in 1889.

1895

Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization.

Pasteur won the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contributions to microbiology in 1895. Pasteur was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1853, promoted to Officer in 1863, to Commander in 1868, to Grand Officer in 1878 and made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. ===Legacy=== In many localities worldwide, streets are named in his honor.

1964

Finally, in 1964 Pasteur's grandson and last surviving male descendant, Pasteur Vallery-Radot, donated the papers to the French national library (Bibliothèque nationale de France).

1971

Yet the papers were restricted for historical studies until the death of Vallery-Radot in 1971.

1984

Moore and cast in 1984 by Artworks Foundry. The UNESCO/Institut Pasteur Medal was created on the centenary of Pasteur's death, and is given every two years in his name, "in recognition of outstanding research contributing to a beneficial impact on human health". ===Pasteur Institute=== After developing the rabies vaccine, Pasteur proposed an institute for the vaccine.

1985

The documents were given a catalogue number only in 1985. In 1995, the centennial of the death of Louis Pasteur, a historian of science Gerald L.

1995

The documents were given a catalogue number only in 1985. In 1995, the centennial of the death of Louis Pasteur, a historian of science Gerald L.




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