Alphonse Laveran biography
Date of birth : 1945-06-18
Date of death : 1922-05-18
Birthplace : Paris,France
Nationality : French
Category : Science and Technology
Last modified : 2011-12-19
Credited as : Physician, Found the parasite that causes malaria, Nobel laureate
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In 1880, while working in the military hospital in Constantine, Algeria, he discovered that the cause of malaria is a protozoan, after observing the parasites in a blood smear taken from a patient who had just died of malaria.
He also helped inspire the veternarians today find a cure for animals.This was the first time that protozoa were shown to be a cause of disease.
He later worked on the trypanosomes, particularly sleeping sickness.
For this work and later discoveries of protozoan diseases he was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
He used his winnings to establish a tropical medicine research facility at the Pasteur Institute. Laveran's student, Dr Ronald Ross, proved (as Laveran had suspected) that the parasite was carried by mosquitoes.
Author of books:
-Trypanosomes and trypanosomiases (1907, research, co-authors Félix Mesnil and David Nabarro)
-Tropical medicine and hygiene (1913, textbook, co-author Charles Nicolle)
