Léopold Nègre (15 June 1879 – 29 July 1961) 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 ...

and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

born in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. He studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the University of Montpellier, followed by courses in

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

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 ...

. From 1907 to 1910, he served as préparateur at the laboratory of microbiology courses headed by Amédée Borrel (1867–1936). In 1910, he obtained his doctorate of medicine. Following an internship at the Pasteur Institute in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, he was appointed laboratory chief (microbial analysis) at the Pasteur Institute in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. In 1918 he received his doctorate of natural sciences. In 1919, he was assigned to the laboratory of

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 ...

headed by

Albert Calmette Léon Charles Albert Calmette ForMemRS (12 July 1863 – 29 October 1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist, and an important officer of the Pasteur Institute. He discovered the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, an attenuated for ...

(1863–1933) at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Here he took part in research of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG vaccine). With microbiologist Alfred Boquet (1879–1947) he developed ''antigene méthylique'' (

methyl In organic chemistry, a methyl group is an alkyl derived from methane, containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, having chemical formula . In formulas, the group is often abbreviated as Me. This hydrocarbon group occurs in many ...

antigen In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule or molecular structure or any foreign particulate matter or a pollen grain that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune response. ...

) for treatment of tuberculosis. In 1931, Nègre became chair at the Institut Pasteur, and in 1944 was named vice president of the

Société de biologie The Société de biologie is a learned society founded in Paris in 1848. The society was conceived during the French Revolution of 1848. The members of the society held regular meetings and published the proceedings in a new scientific journal. The ...

. He was also president of the Société française de la tuberculose (1950) and a member of the

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

(hygiene section, from 1951).

Selected writings

* ''Infections à bacille pseudo-dysentériques en Algérie'' (Infections by pseudo- dysenteric bacillus in Algeria) 1916 * ''Bacilles paradysentériques isolés en Algérie'' (Paradysenteric bacilli isolated in Algeria) 1917 * ''Résultats des vaccinations triples antityphoïdiques et antiparatyphoïdiques dans les troupes d'Alger'' (Results of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

and

paratyphoid Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of the three types of ''Salmonella enterica''. Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever. Often, a grad ...

vaccinations of troops in Algiers) 1917 * ''Lymphangite epizootique des solipèdes : contribution a l'ètude des mycoses'' ( Epizootic lymphangitis of solipeds: contribution to the study of fungi) with Alfred Boquet; 1920 * ''Antigénothérapie de la tuberculose par les extraits méthyliques de bacilles de Koch'' (Antigen therapy of tuberculosis by extracts of tubercle bacilli methyl) with Alfred Boquet; 1927 * ''Le traitement de la tuberculose par l'antigène méthylique (antigénothérapie)'' (Treatment of tuberculosis by antigen-methyl (antigen therapy) with Alfred Boquet; 1932 * ''Albert Calmette, sa vie, son oeuvre scientifique'' (

, his life, his scientific work) 1939 * ''Vaccination par le BCG par scarifications cutanées'' (BCG vaccination by skin scarification) with J. Breley; 1942 * ''Prévention et traitement spécifiques de la tuberculose par le BCG et par l'antigène méthylique'' (Prevention and treatment of specific tuberculosis with BCG and antigen methyl) 1956

References

Service des Archives de l'Institut Pasteur
(biography)
IDREF
(list of publications)

(biographies and documents) {{DEFAULTSORT:Negre, Leopold French microbiologists Physicians from Montpellier 1879 births 1961 deaths