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Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming
Answer: Fleming was born on 6 August 1881 at Lochfield Farm near Darvel, Scotland.
Answer: Fleming died of a heart attack on 11 March 1955 in London, United Kingdom. He was
cremated and his ashes were interred at St Paul's Cathedral.
Answer: His parents were Hugh Fleming and Grace Morton, both farmers.
Answer: Fleming had three siblings (Grace, John and Robert) and four half-siblings who were
the surviving children from his father Hugh's first marriage (Jane, Hugh, Thomas and Mary).
Answer: He was married to Sarah McElroy, a nurse from Ireland, from 1915 until she died in
1949. Their only child Robert was born in 1924. In 1953 Fleming married Dr Amalia Voureka, a
Greek colleague.
Answer: After finishing school at the age of 16, Fleming spent 4 years working at a shipping
office before going to St Mary's Hospital Medical School in 1901 to study medicine. On
graduating in 1906, he joined the research department at St Mary's as an assistant
bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy. He remained at St Mary's for
the next 49 years, becoming a lecturer and then a Professor of Bacteriology, and also opened
his own practice to treat patients with syphilis.
Answer: He was knighted in 1944 by King George VI of the United Kingdom and could from
then on address himself as Sir Alexander Fleming.
Question: Is the story true that goes around attributing his good fortune to that of a wealthy
man whose son he saved.
Answer: Penicillin has saved millions of lives by stopping the growth of the bacteria that are
responsible for poisoning the blood and causing many other once fatal diseases.
Answer: Fleming identified the mould that had contaminated his culture plates as being from
the Penicillium genus, and therefore named the substance it released penicillin.
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