Alexander Fleming

@Discovered Penicillin, Timeline and Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist who discovered enzyme lysozyme and antibiotic penicillin British Scottish Imperial College London Scientists Biologists Pharmacologists Bacteriologists Leo Celebrities Alexander Fleming was a great Scottish biologist and pharmacologist who made way for antibiotic medicines with his discovery of penicillin from the mould “Penicillium notatum”. Fleming’s discoveries brought new hope to mankind in battling certain diseases and treating bacterial infections. Fleming’s various works are recorded in his articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy. He won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for his outstanding and breakthrough discovery. Such is the impact of the great man that his name had even featured in the list of 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century as recently as in 1999. Present day penicillin upgrades carried put by the medicine world stand on one man’s quest and that is none other than Fleming. By discovering synthetic penicillin Fleming paved the way for preventing and fighting serious illnesses like syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis which were never imagined of being treated before Fleming’s discoveries.

Personal Details

Birthday: August 6, 1881 Died on: March 11, 1955 Nationality: British, Scottish Famous: Discovered Penicillin, Imperial College London, Scientists, Biologists, Pharmacologists, Bacteriologists Spouses: Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, Sarah Siblings: Tom Childrens: Robert Fleming Information Detail Birthday August 6, 1881 Died on March 11, 1955 Nationality British, Scottish Famous Discovered Penicillin, Imperial College London, Scientists, Biologists, Pharmacologists, Bacteriologists Spouses Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, Sarah Siblings Tom Childrens Robert Fleming Universities Imperial College London Kilmarnock Academy (1900) University of Westminster Imperial College London Notable Alumnis Imperial College London Discoveries / Inventions Discovery Of Penicillin Birth Place Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland Born Country Scotland Religion Roman Catholic Gender Male Father Hugh Fleming Mother Grace Stirling Morton Sun Sign Leo Born in Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland Famous as Biologist, Pharmacologist, Discovered Penicillin Died at Age 73

Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland

Alexander Fleming born at Unsplash Birth Place

On 24 December 1915, Alexander Fleming married Sarah Marion McElroy of Ireland, a trained nurse. Their only son Robert, born in 1924, followed his father to become a medical practitioner. Unsplash Personal Life

Fleming was knighted as Knight Bachelor by King George VI to become Sir Alexander Fleming in 1944. Unsplash Personal Life

Post Sarah's death in 1949, Fleming remarried a colleague at St. Mary’s, Dr.Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, on 9 April 1953 who died in 1986. Unsplash Personal Life

Alexander Fleming was born in Lochfield farm, Avrshire, Scotland, UK on 6th August 1881. He was born to farmer parents Hugh Fleming and Grace Stirling Morton (second wife of Hugh Fleming). He lost his father due to ill health at a tender age of seven only. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Fleming studied at Loudoun Moor School and Darvel School and moved to London at the age of thirteen to attend the Royal Polytechnic institution after attaining two scholarships for Kilmarnock Academy. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Following his elder brother Tom’s footsteps he also joined St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School (Paddington) in 1903 to study medicine which he completed with an MBBS degree in 1906. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Alexander Fleming joined the Research department at St Mary's and worked as an assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright who was a master in vaccine therapy and immunology. Unsplash Career

In1908 Fleming joined St Mary's as a lecturer after being awarded a gold medal in bacteriology, and served there till 1914. Unsplash Career

Fleming practiced as a venereologist between 1909 and 1914. He became the first doctor to administer a drug against syphilis called arsphenamine (Salvarsan). Unsplash Career

In 1928 he became a professor of bacteriology at the University of London. Unsplash Career

He was a part of the Royal Army Medical Corps as a captain during the World War I and served in the war field hospitals in France where he studied the effect of antiseptics on the wounds. Unsplash Career

Antiseptics do more harm than good: While serving the field hospitals during the World War I in 1914 he reached the conclusion that antiseptics such as carbolic acid, boric acid and hydrogen peroxide (used to treat wounds) do more harm than cure. He found that they only cured surface wounds and failed to heal deeper. Along with Almroth Wright, he suggested an alternative of saline water for treatment. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	August 6, 1881
Died on	March 11, 1955
Nationality	British, Scottish
Famous	Discovered Penicillin, Imperial College London, Scientists, Biologists, Pharmacologists, Bacteriologists
Spouses	Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, Sarah
Siblings	Tom
Childrens	Robert Fleming
Universities	Imperial College London Kilmarnock Academy (1900) University of Westminster Imperial College London
Notable Alumnis	Imperial College London
Discoveries / Inventions	Discovery Of Penicillin
Birth Place	Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland
Born Country	Scotland
Religion	Roman Catholic
Gender	Male
Father	Hugh Fleming
Mother	Grace Stirling Morton
Sun Sign	Leo
Born in	Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland
Famous as	Biologist, Pharmacologist, Discovered Penicillin
Died at Age	73

Alexander Fleming

British

Aug 6, 1881

Biography

Personal Details

Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland