Jean-Antoine Villemin (January 28, 1827 – October 6, 1892) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

born in

Prey, Vosges Prey () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Geography Prey is a small rural commune positioned halfway between Bruyères and Docelles. Distinguished son Jean Antoine Villemin 1827 - 1892 who identif ...

. In 1865 he demonstrated that

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

was an

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

Biography

Villemin was born in the department of

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

, and studied medicine at the military medical school at

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, qualifying as an army doctor in 1853. Afterwards he practiced medicine at the military hospital of

Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of h ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1874 he became a member of the French

Académie Nationale de Médecine Situated at 16 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the Académie nationale de médecine (National Academy of Medicine) was created in 1820 by King Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the instituti ...

, and was its vice-president in 1891. In 1865 Villemin proved that tuberculosis was an infectious disease by inoculating laboratory rabbits with material from infected humans and cattle. He published his results in the treatise ''Études sur la Tuberculose'' (Studies on Tuberculosis). Here he describes the transmission of

from humans to rabbits, from cattle to rabbits, and from rabbits to rabbits. However, his findings were ignored by the scientific community at the time, and Villemin's contributions wouldn't be realized until years later when they were corroborated by other scientists. The

Prix Leconte The Leconte Prize ( French: ') is a prize created in 1886 by the French Academy of Sciences to recognize important discoveries in mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural history or medicine. In recent years the prize has been awarded in the speci ...

was posthumously awarded to Villemin (and its ₣50,000 presented to his heirs) in 1892 in recognition of his work.

References

Biography of Jean-Antoine Villemin
(translated from French) 1827 births 1892 deaths People from Vosges (department) French military doctors French pulmonologists {{France-med-bio-stub