Paul-Louis Simond
Encyclopedia
Paul-Louis Simond was a French physician and biologist who was born in Beaufort-sur-Gervanne
, (Drome
, France
) on July 30, 1858. His major contribution to science was his demonstration that the intermediates in the transmission of bubonic plague
from rats to humans are the fleas Xenopsylla cheopis that dwell on infected rats.
From 1878 to 1882 Simond was an assistant in Medical and Biological Sciences at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bordeaux
, and he began his medical training there. From 1882 to 1886 he served as director of a leprosarium near Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
, French Guyana, where he contracted an attenuated form of yellow fever
. He returned to Bordeaux in 1886 and the following year he received his medical doctorate with a prize-winning thesis on leprosy
. In 1895 he began work at the Pasteur Institute
in Paris
and while working in the laboratory of Elie Metchnikoff, he was the first to provide a comprehensive description of the sexual reproductive processes of Coccidia
. This work provided experimental support for the theory of evolutionary dimorphism which had been put forward by R. Pfeiffer.
In 1897, when Alexandre Yersin
was transferred by the Pasteur Institute to a post in Vietnam
, his position in Bombay was filled by Simond, who was to test the efficacy of an experimental antiserum
against the outbreak of plague in that city. The following year, Simond was in Karachi
where, despite limited resources, he was able to demonstrate that fleas transmit the bacterium Yersinia pestis
, the agent causing bubonic plague
, from rat to rat, and from rat to human. His ingenious experiments are described in his report to the Pasteur Institute on the spread of plague ("La propagation de la peste"), which was published in 1898 by Pierre Paul Emile Roux
in the Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. For this work Simond was awarded the Barbier prize from the French Academy of Medicine. His findings were not initially accepted by the scientific community, but were validated later by others and by 1907 his conclusions were accepted as scientific fact.
From 1898 to 1901 Simond served as director of the Pasteur Institute in Saigon organizing a modern vaccine service. From 1901 to 1905 he participated on a mission to study yellow fever
in Brazil
where he and his colleagues confirmed the results that the U.S. Army Commission led by Walter Reed
had just obtained in Cuba. These revealed that the amaril virus is the pathogen present in the blood of patients, and that this virus can be conveyed to humans by the mosquito species, Stegomyia fasciata (later renamed Aedes aegypti). In 1908-09 he conducted yellow fever research in Martinique
. From 1911 to 1913 he served as Director of the Imperial Bacteriology Research Institute in Constantinople
.
Simond had a keen interest in botany
; during his stay as a colonial doctor in Indochina
from 1914 until 1917, he collected orchids and had a local artist create watercolor paintings of them. He amassed a collection of 226 watercolor paintings of orchids which were presented to the Phanerogamie of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
He died in Valence
(Drôme
, France
) on March 3, 1947
Beaufort-sur-Gervanne
Beaufort-sur-Gervanne is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:-References:*...
, (Drome
Drôme
Drôme , a department in southeastern France, takes its name from the Drôme River.-History:The French National Constituent Assembly set up Drôme as one of the original 83 departments of France on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution...
, 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...
) on July 30, 1858. His major contribution to science was his demonstration that the intermediates in the transmission of 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...
from rats to humans are the fleas Xenopsylla cheopis that dwell on infected rats.
From 1878 to 1882 Simond was an assistant in Medical and Biological Sciences at the School of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, and he began his medical training there. From 1882 to 1886 he served as director of a leprosarium near Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is one of the two sub-prefectures of French Guiana and the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni...
, French Guyana, where he contracted an attenuated form of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. He returned to Bordeaux in 1886 and the following year he received his medical doctorate with a prize-winning thesis on leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
. In 1895 he began work at the 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 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...
and while working in the laboratory of Elie Metchnikoff, he was the first to provide a comprehensive description of the sexual reproductive processes of Coccidia
Coccidia
Coccidia is a subclass of microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled obligate parasites belonging to the apicomplexan class Conoidasida. Coccidian parasites infect the intestinal tracts of animals, and are the largest group of apicomplexan protozoa....
. This work provided experimental support for the theory of evolutionary dimorphism which had been put forward by R. Pfeiffer.
In 1897, when Alexandre Yersin
Alexandre Yersin
Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin 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 .Yersin was born in 1863 in Aubonne, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, to a family...
was transferred by the Pasteur Institute to a post in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, his position in Bombay was filled by Simond, who was to test the efficacy of an experimental antiserum
Antiserum
Antiserum is blood serum containing polyclonal antibodies. Antiserum is used to pass on passive immunity to many diseases. Passive antibody transfusion from a previous human survivor is the only known effective treatment for Ebola infection .The most common use of antiserum in humans is as...
against the outbreak of plague in that city. The following year, Simond was in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
where, despite limited resources, he was able to demonstrate that fleas transmit the bacterium 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....
, the agent causing 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...
, from rat to rat, and from rat to human. His ingenious experiments are described in his report to the Pasteur Institute on the spread of plague ("La propagation de la peste"), which was published in 1898 by Pierre Paul Emile Roux
Pierre Paul Émile Roux
Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist who was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur , a co-founder of the Pasteur Institute and discoverer of the anti-diphtheria serum, the first effective therapy for this disease.Roux got his baccalaureate...
in the Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. For this work Simond was awarded the Barbier prize from the French Academy of Medicine. His findings were not initially accepted by the scientific community, but were validated later by others and by 1907 his conclusions were accepted as scientific fact.
From 1898 to 1901 Simond served as director of the Pasteur Institute in Saigon organizing a modern vaccine service. From 1901 to 1905 he participated on a mission to study yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
in 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...
where he and his colleagues confirmed the results that the U.S. Army Commission led by Walter Reed
Walter Reed
Major Walter Reed, M.D., was a U.S. Army physician who in 1900 led the team that postulated and confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito species, rather than by direct contact...
had just obtained in Cuba. These revealed that the amaril virus is the pathogen present in the blood of patients, and that this virus can be conveyed to humans by the mosquito species, Stegomyia fasciata (later renamed Aedes aegypti). In 1908-09 he conducted yellow fever research in Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
. From 1911 to 1913 he served as Director of the Imperial Bacteriology Research Institute in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
Simond had a keen interest in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
; during his stay as a colonial doctor in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
from 1914 until 1917, he collected orchids and had a local artist create watercolor paintings of them. He amassed a collection of 226 watercolor paintings of orchids which were presented to the Phanerogamie of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
He died in Valence
Valence, Drôme
Valence is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Drôme department, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseilles.Its inhabitants are called Valentinois...
(Drôme
Drôme
Drôme , a department in southeastern France, takes its name from the Drôme River.-History:The French National Constituent Assembly set up Drôme as one of the original 83 departments of France on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution...
, 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...
) on March 3, 1947