Background
He was born at Soignies, Belgium, June 13, 1870.
microbiologist physician bacteriologist
He was born at Soignies, Belgium, June 13, 1870.
He was educated at the University of Brussels and received his M.D. there in 1892.
He was educated at the University of Brussels and received his M.D. there in 1892. From 1894 to 1901 he was a member of the Pasteur Institute in Paris and was then called to Brussels to establish the Pasteur Institute there, where he remained and served as director until 1940. He taught bacteriology at the University of Brussels from 1907 to 1935. He is well known for his work in immunity and his researches in serology. With Octave Gengou he discovered the complement fixation reaction and the whooping-cough bacillus, as well as a vaccine for the disease. His early studies demonstrated that there are two antimicrobe sera: alexin, which exists before immunization, and an antibody produced by vaccination. The Wassermann test for syphilis was one of the methods of diagnosis based on Dr. Bordet's principles. For his work and accomplishments in immunology he won the 1919 Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine. He died in Brussels on Apr. 6, 1961.