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Élie Metchnikoff

Russian-French immunologist, embryologist, biologist · France · Scientists · Lived 1845 to 1916 · aged 71

Élie Metchnikoff is read about 477 times a day, in 81 languages.

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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.

ScientistsScientistBiologyChemistryMedicineFranceEurope19th Century

A life in dates

1916Died2 July 1916Albert MedalAward1913Commander of the Legion of HonourAward1908Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineAward1906Copley MedalAward1905“The duration of the life of men may be considerably increased. It would be true progress to go back to the simple dishes of our ancestors.”In their wordsQuoted in Strength and Diet by Francis Albert Rollo Russell (London: Longmans, Green, & Co, 1905), p. 2.

1896Officer of the Legion of HonourAward1895Foreign Member of the Royal SocietyAward1845Born3 May 1845

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Ilya Mechnikov nobelIlya Mechnikov nobelCFP-2 Metchnikof, docteurCFP-2 Metchnikof, docteurCOA MechnykovyCOA MechnykovyДанилевский Я.П. Мечников Илья студент университета 1860еДанилевский Я.П. Мечников Илья студент университета 1860еDe Russische microbioloog Metchnikoff(1845-1916) met een microscoop in L'Institut Pasteur, SFA022815026De Russische microbioloog Metchnikoff(1845-1916) met een microscoop in L'Institut Pasteur, SFA022815026Elias MetschnikowElias MetschnikowElie Metchnikoff - Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915 - LOC - (1)Elie Metchnikoff - Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915 - LOC - (1)Elie Metchnikoff - Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915 - LOCElie Metchnikoff - Between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915 - LOC

In their own words 1

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Élie Metchnikoff
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One statement

  1. The duration of the life of men may be considerably increased. It would be true progress to go back to the simple dishes of our ancestors.

    1905, Quoted in Strength and Diet by Francis Albert Rollo Russell (London: Longmans, Green, & Co, 1905), p. 2., Own words

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Awards

Albert Medal1916
Commander of the Legion of Honour1913
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine1908
Copley Medal1906
Officer of the Legion of Honour1896
Foreign Member of the Royal Society1895

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About this person

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.

Country
France
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1845 to 1916 · aged 71

Scientists from France 6

Louis Daguerre65.7Nicolas Appert65.5Christophe Galfard65.7Henri B. Kagan65.1Louis Braille66.0Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac65.0

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