Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)

Awarded the Prize “for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases.”

British bacteriologist. Fleming was born at Ayrshire, Scotland on August 6, 1881. He worked in a shipping office before entering St. Mary’s Medical School, London University, where he qualified with distinction in 1906. He was awarded M.B., B.S. in 1908. He was a lecturer at St. Mary’s until 1914, when he served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps. He was elected Professor of St. Mary’s in 1928 and Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology, University of London in 1948. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1943. Fleming died on March 11, 1955 in London.