Profile of the Day: Alexander Fleming

Today we remember Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming, who died on March 11, 1955.

Image: Alexander Fleming / Wikimedia Commons

Fleming was born in Ayrshire, Scotland on August 6, 1881 to Hugh Fleming, a farmer, and Grace Stirling Morton. He studied medicine before serving as a physician during World War I.

In 1928, Fleming made history when he discovered the world’s first antibiotic, penicillin. He stumbled on this revolutionary discovery by accident. Upon returning to his laboratory after a month vacationing with his family, he noticed that a culture of Staphylococcus aureus he had left out had become contaminated with a mold. He also found that the colonies of staphylococci surrounding the mold had been destroyed. Fleming would later call the mold penicillin. The discovery marked be the beginning of a new age in medicine.

In 1945, Fleming would share the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his ground breaking work.

Explore Alexander Fleming’s family tree on Geni and share your connection.

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