# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/elie-metchnikoff
# Generated: 2026-09-07T20:35:57.549Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/elie-metchnikoff"
name: "Élie Metchnikoff"
slug: "elie-metchnikoff"
description: "He watched white blood cells swallow foreign particles under a microscope in 1882 and named the process phagocytosis — the discovery that built modern immunology and won him the 1908 Nobel Prize alongside Paul Ehrlich."
tagline: "Russian-French immunologist, embryologist, biologist"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Ilya_Mechnikov_nobel.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "France"
  isoCode: "FR"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1845-05-03"
deathDate: "1916-07-02"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           62.39
  momentum:             0
  historical:           24.427608
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 242
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Biology"
    slug: "biology"
  - name: "Chemistry"
    slug: "chemistry"
  - name: "Medicine"
    slug: "medicine"
  - name: "France"
    slug: "france"
  - name: "Europe"
    slug: "europe"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il'ja_Il'i%C4%8D_Me%C4%8Dnikov"
    title: "Il'ja Il'ič Mečnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Ilyich_Mechnikov"
    title: "Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Ilitch_Metchnikov"
    title: "Ilya Ilitch Metchnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E5%88%A9%E4%BA%9E%C2%B7%E6%A2%85%E5%A5%91%E5%B0%BC%E5%8F%AF%E5%A4%AB"
    title: "伊利亞·梅契尼可夫"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AA%E3%83%A4%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%81%E3%83%8B%E3%82%B3%E3%83%95"
    title: "イリヤ・メチニコフ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2C_%D0%98%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%98%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B8%D1%87"
    title: "Мечников, Илья Ильич"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Miecznikow"
    title: "Ilja Miecznikow"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Iljitsj_Metsjnikov"
    title: "Ilja Iljitsj Metsjnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172254"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lie_Metchnikoff"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/%C3%89lie%20Metchnikoff"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BB%D1%8F_%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2"
    title: "Иля Мечников"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%9A%E0%A7%8D%E2%80%8C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AB"
    title: "ইলিয়া মিয়েচ্‌নিকফ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Ilji%C4%8D_Me%C4%8Dnjikov"
    title: "Ilja Iljič Mečnjikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ili%C3%A0_M%C3%A9txnikov"
    title: "Ilià Métxnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A6%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7_%D8%A6%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%DA%86_%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B4%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%A9%DB%86%DA%A4"
    title: "ئیلیا ئیلیچ میشینکۆڤ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Ilji%C4%8D_Me%C4%8Dnikov"
    title: "Ilja Iljič Mečnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Mechnikov"
    title: "Ilya Mechnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Metjnikov"
    title: "Ilja Metjnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Iljitsch_Metschnikow"
    title: "Ilja Iljitsch Metschnikow"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%8A%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B1_%CE%9C%CE%AD%CF%84%CF%83%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%86"
    title: "Ίλια Μέτσνικοφ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Me%C4%89nikov"
    title: "Ilja Meĉnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ili%C3%A1_M%C3%A9chnikov"
    title: "Iliá Méchnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Met%C5%A1nikov"
    title: "Ilja Metšnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lie_Metchnikoff"
    title: "Élie Metchnikoff"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7_%D9%85%DA%86%D9%86%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%88"
    title: "ایلیا مچنیکو"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilja_Met%C5%A1nikov"
    title: "Ilja Metšnikov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C4%B0lya_Me%C3%A7nikov"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89lie_Metchnikoff"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Il'ja_Il'i%C4%8D_Me%C4%8Dnikov"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in 1845 in what's now Ukraine to a Moldavian noble father and Ukrainian-Jewish mother, Mechnikov's lineage was claimed by five nations though he eventually settled in France. His 1882 discovery of phagocytes — cells that devour invaders — revealed the body's innate immune defense and laid the groundwork for cell-mediated immunity while Ehrlich completed the picture with humoral immunity. Beyond immunology, he coined the term "gerontology" in 1903 and championed lactic acid bacteria for longevity, an idea that became the foundation of probiotics. He died in 1916, but life-extension advocates still mark May 15 as Metchnikoff Day.