List of prominent microbiologists

Major contributions to the science of microbiology have spanned the time from the 17th century to the present day. The following is a list of prominent^[1] microbiologists who have made significant contributions to the study of microorganisms. Many of those listed have received a Nobel prize for their contributions to the field of microbiology. The others are typically considered historical figures whose work in microbiology had a notable impact in the field. Those microbiologists who currently work in the field have been excluded unless they have received recognition beyond that of being on the faculty in a college or university.

Microbiologists

Year	Microbiologist		Country	Contribution summary
1860		Ignaz Semmelweis	Hungarian	developed statistical analysis that demonstrated that rigorous hand-washing techniques and rules in the maternity ward significantly reduced the mortality of women giving birth in the hospital setting.[2]
36BC		Marcus Terentius Varro	Roman	earliest proposal of the germ theory.[3][4][5]
1884		Hans Christian Gram	Denmark	Developed the gram-staining technique that is used to identify and classify bacteria.[6]
1898		Kiyoshi Shiga		isolated a cause of bacterial dysentery.[6][7]
1880		Charles Lavaran	France	discovered malaria is caused by a protozoan.[6]
1951		Max Theiler	South Africa	Received the Nobel Prized in Physiology and Medicine "for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it"[8]
1870		Joseph Lister	Scotland	created and applied aseptic surgical technique.[6][9]
1765		Lazzaro Spallanzani	Italian	proved that bacteria did not arise due to spontaneous generation by developing the sealed, sterile broth medium.[6][10]
1901		Emil Adolf von Behring	Germany	The Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine" for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of medical science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths"[11]
1861		Louis Pasteur	French	developed the germ theory of disease, identified yeast as the responsible agent in fermentation, developed pasteurization, proved that bacteria do not arise spontaneously, trained other microbiologists.[6]
1884		Fanny Hesse	German	Discovered the use of agar agar that is used in bacterial culturing.[6][12]
1796		Edward Jenner	English	discovered and applied vaccination techniques against smallpox.[6]
1673		Antony van Leeuwenhoek	Dutch/Holland	developed lens grinding and the first microscope. provided the first description of 'animicules', protozoans, fungi and bacteria.
1952		Selman Abraham Waksman	United States	received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the identification of streptomycin; an antibiotic effective against tuberculosis"[13]
1902		Sir Ronald Ross	United Kingdom India	The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it"[14]
1905		Robert Koch	Germany	The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis"[15]
1907		Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran	France	The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases"[16]
1927		Julius Wagner-Jauregg	Austria	The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation in the treatment of dementia paralytica"[17]
1928		Charles Jules Henri Nicolle	France	"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on typhus"[18]
1939		Gerhard Domagk	Germany	The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil"[19]
				-->
1945		Sir Alexander Fleming	United Kingdom	The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases"[20]
		Sir Ernst Boris Chain	United Kingdom
		Howard Walter Florey	Australia

References

1. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prominence
2. "Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-65)". London, UK: Science Museum, London-Brought To Life, Exploring the History of Medicine. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
3. Adler, Robert (2004). Medical firsts : from Hippocrates to the human genome. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0471401759. "Precautions must also be taken in the neighborhood of swamps...because certain minute creatures grow there which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases.
4. (R.R. I.12.2) (The Mole magazine, Royal Society of Chemistry, March 2014 issue, p. 3)
5. 2,000 Years of Changing Perspectives on Malaria: 2,000 Years of Changing Perspectives on Malaria, accessdate: September 9, 2015
6. Pommerville, Jeffery C. (2014). Fundamentals Of Microbiology. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9781449688615.
7. A. F. Trofa, H. Ueno-Olsen, R. Oiwa, M. Yoshikawa: Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga: Discoverer of the Dysentery Bacillus. In: Clinical Infectious Diseases. 29, 1999, S. 1303, doi:10.1086/313437.
8. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1951". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
9. "Joseph Lister (1827-1912)". London, UK: Science Museum, London-Brought To Life, Exploring the History of Medicine. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
10. dictionary of medical eponyms: Whonamedit - dictionary of medical eponyms, accessdate: September 9, 2015
11. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1901". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
12. Walter and Fanny Hesse: Walter and Fanny Hesse, accessdate: September 9, 2015
13. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1952". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
14. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902". Nobelprize.org. 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
15. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905". Nobelprize.org. 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
16. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1907". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
17. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
18. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1928". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
19. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1939". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
20. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.