Charles Nicolle

In 1895, Nicole married Alice Avice. The couple had two children, a daughter named Marcelle born in 1896 and a son named Pierre born on 1898. Marcelle later grew up to be a doctor in Tunisia.

Nicolle died on 28 February 1936 in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia. He was the Director of the Pasteur Institute at Tunis at the time of his death.

Charles Jules Henry Nicolle was born on 21 September 1866 in Rouen, France. His father, Eugène Nicolle, was a doctor at the local hospital and a lecturer in natural medical science. His mother was the daughter of a watchmaker in Bayeux.

Charles was born second of his parent’s three sons. His elder brother Maurice grew up to be a physician. He later became a Professor at the Pasteur Institute, Paris and the Director of the Bacteriological Institute of Constantinople. His younger brother Marcel became an artist.

Young Charles started his education at Lycée Pierre-Corneille de Rouen, where he received classical education and was drawn towards literature, history and arts. Concurrently, he had private tuition in biology from his father at home.

In 1884, in order to fulfill his father’s wish, Charles enrolled at the Medical School of Rouen. Unfortunately, Eugène Nicolle died in the same year. So in 1887, Charles followed his elder brother to Paris and continued his study at the Medical School of Paris.

Charles acquired his medical degree in 1889 and obtained medical internship at Hospice d'Ivry. Next in 1890, Nicolle entered Pasteur Institute and started working on his doctoral thesis under the guidance of Pierre Paul Émile Roux. Concurrently, he worked as a demonstrator in the microbiological section.

On receiving his M.D. degree Nicolle went back to Rouen in 1893. In the same year, he received appointment as the ‘Professeur suppléant’ in pathology and clinical medicine at the Medical School of Rouen.

He remained at Rouen until 1902. In 1896, he became the head of the bacteriology laboratory at the Medical School. Although he tried to convert it into an eminent center for teaching and research on microbiology on the model of Pasteur Institute, he was not very successful.

It was also his ambition to try and create a center for production of anti-diphteria serum at the Medical School of Rouen. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in that also. However, on personal level, he made certain progress towards this goal and also undertook research work on cancer.

His research on the control of venereal diseases was another of his major works at Rouen. He successfully inoculated syphilis and chancroid agents into lower monkeys. Creating the first sanatorium around Rouen, in Oissel with A. Halipré was another of his important works.

In 1902, he was invited to become the Director of Pasteur Institute at Tunis, North Africa. He took up the position in 1903 and served in that capacity until his death in 1936.

Nicolle is best remembered for his work on typhus. During his stay at Tunis he observed that the disease razed the countryside in the winter and subsided in summer. He also observed that those who transmitted typhus even at the door of the hospital ceased to be contagious as soon as they are admitted.

He noticed that on being admitted to the hospital the patients were first made to have a shave and then a bath. Their clothes were confiscated as well. He suspected that it was either patient’s clothes or their skin, which carried the vector of the disease. He further surmised that the culprit was none other than the body louse.

He proved it in 1909 after a series of experiments involving chimpanzees. He further showed that the transmission actually occurred through the excrement of the louse, which contains a large number of microbes. The person becomes infected when he/she unknowingly rub it into the skin or eye.

Nicolle also tried to make a simple vaccine for typhus. He crushed the lice and mixed it with blood serum, collected from recovered patients. He successfully tried it first on himself and then on a few children. However, the practical vaccine was later invented by Polish biologist Rudolf Stefan Weigl.