Wilson Smith (21 June 1897,

Great Harwood Great Harwood is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, located north east of Blackburn and adjacent to the Ribble Valley. Great Harwood is the major conurbation of the 'Three Towns'; the three towns being Great Harwood, Clayton- ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

; – 10 July 1965,

Woolton Hill Woolton Hill is a village in Hampshire, England, in the civil parish of East Woodhay. The village lies approximately south-west of the centre of Newbury and encompasses the hamlet of Broad Layings on its northern edge. History The area was ...

at Newbury) was a British physician,

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their ...

and immunologist. He was part of the group that first isolated the

influenza virus ''Orthomyxoviridae'' (from Greek ὀρθός, ''orthós'' 'straight' + μύξα, ''mýxa'' 'mucus') is a family of negative-sense RNA viruses. It includes seven genera: ''Alphainfluenzavirus'', ''Betainfluenzavirus'', '' Gammainfluenzavirus'', ...

and developed one of the first vaccines against

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. When Wilson Smith was ten years old, his father died and his mother took care of the four children alone. During his last year of secondary school at the

Accrington Grammar School Accrington Academy is a mixed 11-18 Academy in Accrington, Lancashire. It has designated specialisms in Sports and Mathematics. It is situated in the centre of Accrington. Accrington St Christopher's C of E High is nearby to the west. History T ...

, he also taught at Great Harwood Elementary School. From 1915 to 1919 he served in France and Belgium as a private in the R.A.M.C.'s 107th Field Ambulance. From 1919 he studied medicine at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

with degree qualification as both physician and surgeon (M.B., Ch.B.) in 1923. He was for two years a physician practising clinical medicine in Manchester and worked for one year as a ship's doctor aboard a

Blue Funnel Line Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...

cargo ship. He then studied bacteriology, graduating with a higher medical degree (M.D.) in 1927. He went into research and led a virus research group at the Medical Research Council in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

in north London. There in 1933 he, in collaboration with

Christopher Andrewes Sir Christopher Howard Andrewes (7 June 1896 – 31 December 1988) was a British virologist who discovered the human influenza A virus in 1933. Education Andrewes was educated at Highgate School and later studied medicine at St Bartholome ...

and

Patrick Laidlaw Sir Patrick Playfair Laidlaw (26 September 1881 – 20 March 1940) was a Scottish virologist. Biography Laidlaw was born in Glasgow, the son of Robert Laidlaw, M.D., at that time Superintendent of the Glasgow Medical Mission. He was educated a ...

, succeeded in isolating human

influenza A virus ''Influenza A virus'' (''IAV'') causes influenza in birds and some mammals, and is the only species of the genus ''Alphainfluenzavirus'' of the virus family ''Orthomyxoviridae''. Strain (biology)#Microbiology or virology, Strains of all subtypes ...

and transferring it to

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...

s. In 1936

Frank Horsfall Frank Lappin Horsfall, Jr. (Seattle, December 14, 1906 – New York City, February 19, 1971) was an American microbiologist specializing in pathology. He worked at the Rockefeller Institute, New York, from 1934 to 1960 and in the early 1950s ran ...

, Alice Chenoweth, and colleagues developed, in mouse lung tissue, a live influenza virus vaccine. In 1939 Smith became a professor of bacteriology at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

and in 1946 a professor at the

University College Hospital Medical School UCL Medical School is the medical school of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. The School provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes and also has a medical educati ...

at the University of London. He retired from the U.C.H. Medical School in 1960 but continued to do research at the Microbiological Research Establishment in

Porton Down Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl ...

. Smith was also instrumental in the introduction of

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

vaccination in the UK and headed the Medical Research Council's Biological Research Board. Smith was elected in 1949 a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in and in 1959 a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, whose Bose Prize he received in 1959. He was in 1957 the

Leeuwenhoek Lecture The Leeuwenhoek Lecture is a prize lecture of the Royal Society to recognize achievement in microbiology. The prize was originally given in 1950 and awarded annually, but from 2006 to 2018 was given triennially. From 2018 it will be awarded bienni ...

r of the Royal Society (''Virus-Host Cell Relationships'') and in 1960 the Royal Society's vice-president. In 1960 he received the Graham Gold Medal from the University of London. As a hobby, he played his violin in string quartets with friends. He married the bacteriologist Muriel Mary Nutt in 1927. Upon his death he was survived by his widow and their two married daughters. His brother George was

Lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and his brother Howard was lecturer in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the University of Manchester.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wilson 1897 births 1965 deaths British virologists Influenza researchers Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers People educated at Accrington Grammar School Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians People from Great Harwood People from East Woodhay