Wolfgang Suschitzky

Sir Alexander Fleming, 1881 - 1955. Bacteriologist and discoverer of penicillin

About this artwork

Alexander Fleming was born near Darvel, and is the Scotsman who in 1928 discovered the antiseptic properties of penicillin mould. The production of pure penicillin was achieved by Ernest Chain and Howard Florey in 1940. In 1942, Fleming demonstrated that penicillin could cure meningitis and the British government urged its mass production. Fleming was knighted in 1944 and shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine with Chain and Florey in 1945. This photograph was taken when Suschitzky was making a documentary film on penicillin for the Ministry of Information in 1944.

Updated before 2020

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Wolfgang Suschitzky

Wolfgang Suschitzky