Alexandre Yersin
Encyclopedia
Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin (September 22, 1863–March 1, 1943) was a Swiss
and French
physician
and bacteriologist
. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus
responsible for the bubonic plague
or pest, which was later re-named in his honour (Yersinia pestis
).
Yersin was born in 1863 in Aubonne
, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
, to a family originally from France
. From 1883 to 1884, Yersin studied medicine at Lausanne
, Switzerland; and then at Marburg
, Germany
and Paris
(1884–1886). In 1886, he entered Louis Pasteur
's research laboratory at the École Normale Supérieure
, by invitation of Emile Roux, and participated in the development of the anti-rabies
serum. In 1888 he received his doctorate with a dissertation entitled Étude sur le Développement du Tubercule Expérimental and spent two months with Robert Koch
in Germany. He joined the recently-created Pasteur Institute
in 1889 as Roux's collaborator, and discovered with him the diphtheric toxin
(produced by the Corynebacterium diphtheriae
bacillus).
In order to practice medicine in France, Yersin applied for and obtained French nationality in 1888. Soon afterwards (1890), he left for French Indochina
in Southeast Asia
as a physician for the Messageries Maritimes company, on the Saigon-Manila
line and then on the Saigon-Haiphong
line. He participated in one of the Auguste Pavie
missions. In 1894 Yersin was sent by request of the French government and the Pasteur Institute to Hong Kong
, to investigate the Manchurian Pneumonic Plague epidemic, and there, in a small hut next to the institute (according to Plague by Wendy Orent), he made his greatest discovery, that of the pathogen
which causes the disease. Dr. Kitasato Shibasaburō
had identified a bacterium that he concluded was causing the disease, while Yersin found a different organism. Kitasato quickly published his results, but it gradually emerged that Yersin had found the real cause. Yersin was also able to demonstrate for the first time that the same bacillus was present in the rodent as well as in the human disease, thus underlining the possible means of transmission. This important discovery was communicated to the French Academy of Sciences
in the same year, by his colleague Emile Duclaux
, in a classic paper titled La Peste Bubonique A Hong-Kong (Ann. Inst. Pasteur. 8: 662-667).
From 1895 to 1897, Yersin further pursued his studies on the bubonic plague. In 1895 he returned to the Institute Pasteur in Paris and with Émile Roux, Albert Calmette
and Amédée Borrel
, prepared the first anti-plague serum. In the same year, he returned to Indochina, where he installed a small laboratory at Nha Trang, in order to manufacture the serum (in 1905 this laboratory was to become a branch of the Pasteur Institute). Yersin tried the serum received from Paris in Canton
and Amoy
, in 1896, and in Bombay, India
, in 1897, with disappointing results. Having decided to stay in his country of adoption, he participated actively in the creation of the Medical School of Ha Noi in 1902, and was its first director, until 1904.
Yersin also tried his hand at agriculture, and was a pioneer in the cultivation of rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) imported from Brazil
into Indochina. For this purpose, he obtained in 1897 a concession from the government to establish an agricultural station at Suoi Dau. He also opened a new station at Hon Ba
in 1915, where he tried to acclimatize in that country the quinine
tree (Cinchona ledgeriana), which was imported from the Andes
in South America
by the Spaniards, and which produced the first known effective remedy for preventing and treating malaria
(a disease which prevails in Southeast Asia to this day).
Alexandre Yersin is well remembered in Vietnam, where he was affectionately called Ông Năm (Mr. Nam/Fifth) by the people. Following the country's independence, streets named in his honor kept their designation, and his tomb in Suoi Dau was graced by a pagoda where rites are performed in his worship. Yersin's house in Nha Trang is now the Yersin Museum
, and the epitaph on his tombstone describes him as a "Benefactor and humanist, venerated by the Vietnamese people". At Ha Noi, a French Lycée has his name. A private university founded in 2004 in Da Lat was named "Yersin University" in his honour.
In 1934 he was nominated honorary director of Pasteur Institute and a member of its Board of Administration. He died during World War II
at his home in Nha Trang
, in 1943.
Dr. Yersin was credited for finding the site for the town of Dalat (300 km North West of Saigon) in 1893. Because of the high altitude and European-like climate, Dalat soon became an R&R spot for the French officers. There was a high school named after him which was built in the 1920s i.e. Lycee Yersin aka Grand Lycee (grade 6 to 12) vs Petit Lycee (elementary to grade 5) and a university named for him which was built in the 2000s.
While in Hong Kong, Yersin was helped in his search by an Italian priest of PIME order. He provided dead bodies and assisted him in his quest for a remedy for the plague. The name of this priest was Bernardo Vigano' (1837–1901).
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and bacteriologist
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus
Bacillus
Bacillus is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria and a member of the division Firmicutes. Bacillus species can be obligate aerobes or facultative anaerobes, and test positive for the enzyme catalase. Ubiquitous in nature, Bacillus includes both free-living and pathogenic species...
responsible for the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
or pest, which was later re-named in his honour (Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals....
).
Yersin was born in 1863 in Aubonne
Aubonne
Aubonne is a municipality in the district of Morges in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:The municipality was settled very early. The oldest remains are from the Bronze Age. From Roman times, there remain foundations of villas, and from early medieval times, graves.The first documentation...
, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, to a family originally from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. From 1883 to 1884, Yersin studied medicine at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland; and then at Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(1884–1886). In 1886, he entered Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...
's research laboratory at the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
, by invitation of Emile Roux, and participated in the development of the anti-rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
serum. In 1888 he received his doctorate with a dissertation entitled Étude sur le Développement du Tubercule Expérimental and spent two months with Robert Koch
Robert Koch
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Tuberculosis bacillus and the Vibrio cholerae and for his development of Koch's postulates....
in Germany. He joined the recently-created Pasteur Institute
Pasteur Institute
The Pasteur Institute is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who made some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine at the time, including pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax...
in 1889 as Roux's collaborator, and discovered with him the diphtheric toxin
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
(produced by the Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. It is also known as the Klebs-Löffler bacillus, because it was discovered in 1884 by German bacteriologists Edwin Klebs and Friedrich Löffler .-Classification:Four subspecies are recognized: C. diphtheriae mitis, C....
bacillus).
In order to practice medicine in France, Yersin applied for and obtained French nationality in 1888. Soon afterwards (1890), he left for French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
as a physician for the Messageries Maritimes company, on the Saigon-Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
line and then on the Saigon-Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...
line. He participated in one of the Auguste Pavie
Auguste Pavie
Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie was a French colonial civil servant, explorer and diplomat who was instrumental in establishing French control over Laos in the last two decades of the 19th century...
missions. In 1894 Yersin was sent by request of the French government and the Pasteur Institute to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, to investigate the Manchurian Pneumonic Plague epidemic, and there, in a small hut next to the institute (according to Plague by Wendy Orent), he made his greatest discovery, that of the pathogen
Pathogen
A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...
which causes the disease. Dr. Kitasato Shibasaburō
Kitasato Shibasaburō
Baron was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the infectious agent of bubonic plague in Hong Kong in 1894, almost simultaneously with Alexandre Yersin.-Biography:...
had identified a bacterium that he concluded was causing the disease, while Yersin found a different organism. Kitasato quickly published his results, but it gradually emerged that Yersin had found the real cause. Yersin was also able to demonstrate for the first time that the same bacillus was present in the rodent as well as in the human disease, thus underlining the possible means of transmission. This important discovery was communicated to the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
in the same year, by his colleague Emile Duclaux
Émile Duclaux
Émile Duclaux was a French microbiologist and chemist who was born in Aurillac, Cantal.He studied at the College of Aurillac, the Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris and at École Normale Supérieure. In 1862 he was an assistant in the laboratory of Louis Pasteur...
, in a classic paper titled La Peste Bubonique A Hong-Kong (Ann. Inst. Pasteur. 8: 662-667).
From 1895 to 1897, Yersin further pursued his studies on the bubonic plague. In 1895 he returned to the Institute Pasteur in Paris and with Émile Roux, Albert Calmette
Albert Calmette
Léon Charles Albert Calmette ForMemRS was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist, and an important officer of the Pasteur Institute. He discovered the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, an attenuated form of Mycobacterium used in the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis...
and Amédée Borrel
Amédée Borrel
Amédée Borrel was a French biologist born in Cazouls-lès-Béziers, Hérault.He studied natural sciences at the University of Montpellier, where he earned his degree in 1890...
, prepared the first anti-plague serum. In the same year, he returned to Indochina, where he installed a small laboratory at Nha Trang, in order to manufacture the serum (in 1905 this laboratory was to become a branch of the Pasteur Institute). Yersin tried the serum received from Paris in Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
and Amoy
Amoy
Xiamen, or Amoy, is a city on the southeast coast of China.Amoy may also refer to:*Amoy dialect, a dialect of the Hokkien lects, which are part of the Southern Min group of Chinese languages...
, in 1896, and in Bombay, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, in 1897, with disappointing results. Having decided to stay in his country of adoption, he participated actively in the creation of the Medical School of Ha Noi in 1902, and was its first director, until 1904.
Yersin also tried his hand at agriculture, and was a pioneer in the cultivation of rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) imported from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
into Indochina. For this purpose, he obtained in 1897 a concession from the government to establish an agricultural station at Suoi Dau. He also opened a new station at Hon Ba
Hòn Bà
Hòn Bà is an islet in the South China Sea. The islet belongs to Vietnam, the Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province. The islet is famous, because of the temple on the islet....
in 1915, where he tried to acclimatize in that country the quinine
Quinine
Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
tree (Cinchona ledgeriana), which was imported from the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
by the Spaniards, and which produced the first known effective remedy for preventing and treating malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
(a disease which prevails in Southeast Asia to this day).
Alexandre Yersin is well remembered in Vietnam, where he was affectionately called Ông Năm (Mr. Nam/Fifth) by the people. Following the country's independence, streets named in his honor kept their designation, and his tomb in Suoi Dau was graced by a pagoda where rites are performed in his worship. Yersin's house in Nha Trang is now the Yersin Museum
Yersin Museum
The Yersin Museum is a museum in Nha Trang, Vietnam. It is dedicated to Alexandre Yersin the bacteriologist.It is located on 8 - 10 Tran Phu boulevard in the former home of Yersin in the enclosure of the Pasteur Institute ....
, and the epitaph on his tombstone describes him as a "Benefactor and humanist, venerated by the Vietnamese people". At Ha Noi, a French Lycée has his name. A private university founded in 2004 in Da Lat was named "Yersin University" in his honour.
In 1934 he was nominated honorary director of Pasteur Institute and a member of its Board of Administration. He died during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
at his home in Nha Trang
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...
, in 1943.
External links
- Alexandre Yersin and his adventures in Vietnam
- Other Colleagues of Louis Pasteur, Pasteur Brewing
- Alexandre Yersin. Repères chronologiques. Institut Pasteur, Paris (In French).
Dr. Yersin was credited for finding the site for the town of Dalat (300 km North West of Saigon) in 1893. Because of the high altitude and European-like climate, Dalat soon became an R&R spot for the French officers. There was a high school named after him which was built in the 1920s i.e. Lycee Yersin aka Grand Lycee (grade 6 to 12) vs Petit Lycee (elementary to grade 5) and a university named for him which was built in the 2000s.
While in Hong Kong, Yersin was helped in his search by an Italian priest of PIME order. He provided dead bodies and assisted him in his quest for a remedy for the plague. The name of this priest was Bernardo Vigano' (1837–1901).