André Michel Lwoff (8 May 1902 – 30 September 1994)
was a French
microbiologist
A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...
and
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...
.
Education, early life and career
Lwoff was born in
Ainay-le-Château,
Allier
Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...
, in
Auvergne, France, into a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family of Russian-Polish origin, the son of Marie (Siminovitch), an artist, and Solomon Lwoff, a psychiatrist.
He joined the
Institute Pasteur in Paris when he was 19 years old. In 1932, he finished his PhD and, with the help of a grant from the
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
, moved with his wife and co-researcher
Marguerite Lwoff to the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research of
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
to
Otto Meyerhof, where he did research on the development of
flagellate
A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word ''flagellate'' also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and the ...
s. Another Rockefeller grant allowed him go to the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1937. In 1938, he was appointed departmental head at the
Institut Pasteur, where he did groundbreaking research on
bacteriophage
A bacteriophage (), also known informally as a phage (), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. The term is derived . Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that Capsid, encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have structu ...
s,
microbiota and on the
poliovirus.
Awards and honors
He was awarded numerous prizes from the French
Académie des Sciences, the
Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer, the
Leeuwenhoek Medal of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960 and the
Keilin Medal of the British
Biochemical Society in 1964. He was awarded a
Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1965 for the discovery of the mechanism that some viruses (which he named
proviruses) use to infect
bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
.
He was an elected member of the United States
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
, and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
. Throughout his career he partnered with his wife
Marguerite Lwoff although he gained considerably more recognition. Lwoff was elected a
Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1958.
[ Lwoff was also president of the FEMS for a term of two years from 1974. The FEMS-Lwoff Award in microbiology is named in his honour.
]
Personal life
Lwoff was married to the microbiologist and virologist Marguerite Lwoff with whom he published many works. He was also a humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
against capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
.
See also
* List of Jewish Nobel laureates
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lwoff, Andre Michael
1902 births
1994 deaths
Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
French Nobel laureates
People from Allier
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
French humanists
French microbiologists
French virologists
Phage workers
Foreign members of the Royal Society
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Leeuwenhoek Medal winners
Pasteur Institute
Presidents of the International Union of Microbiological Societies
Members of the American Philosophical Society