Alexander Fleming
                     ALEXANDER FLEMING
Who Was Alexander Fleming?
Alexander Fleming was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on 
August 6, 1881, and studied medicine, serving as a 
physician during World War I. 
Through research and experimentation, Fleming 
discovered a bacteria-destroying mold which he 
would call penicillin in 1928, paving the way for the 
use of antibiotics in modern healthcare. 
Source: www.biography.com 2
Early Years
Alexander Fleming was born in rural Lochfield, in 
East Ayrshire, Scotland, on August 6, 1881. 
His parents, Hugh and Grace were farmers, and 
Alexander was one of their four children.
Source: www.biography.com 3
Early Education
He attended the Louden Moor School, the Darvel 
School and Kilmarnock Academy before moving to 
London in 1895, where he lived with his older 
brother, Thomas Fleming. 
In London, Fleming finished his basic education at 
the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of 
Westminster).
Presentation title Source: www.biography.com 4
Higher Education
Fleming was a member of the Territorial Army and 
served from 1900 to 1914 in the London Scottish 
Regiment. 
He entered the medical field in 1901, studying at St. 
Mary's Hospital Medical School at the University of 
London. 
While at St. Mary's, he won the 1908 gold medal as 
the top medical student.
Source: www.biography.com 5
Early Career
Fleming had planned on becoming a surgeon, but a 
temporary position in the Inoculation Department at 
St. Mary's Hospital changed his path toward the 
then-new field of bacteriology. 
There, he developed his research skills under the 
guidance of bacteriologist and immunologist Sir 
Almroth Edward Wright, whose revolutionary ideas of 
vaccine therapy represented an entirely new 
direction in medical treatment.
Source: www.biography.com 6
During World I
During World War I, Fleming served in the Royal 
Army Medical Corps. 
He worked as a bacteriologist, studying wound 
infections in a makeshift lab that had been set up by 
Wright in Boulogne, France. 
Source: www.biography.com 7
Discovery regarding antiseptics
Fleming discovered that antiseptics commonly used 
at the time were doing more harm than good, as 
their diminishing effects on the body's immunity 
agents largely outweighed their ability to break 
down harmful bacteria therefore, more soldiers were 
dying from antiseptic treatment than from the 
infections they were trying to destroy.
Source: www.biography.com 8
Discovery of human immune system 
In November 1921, while nursing a cold, Fleming 
discovered lysozyme, a mildly antiseptic enzyme 
present in body fluids, when a drop of mucus dripped 
from his nose onto a culture of bacteria. 
This marked Fleming's first great discovery, as well 
as a significant contribution to human immune 
system research.
Source: www.biography.com 9
The Road to Penicillin
In September 1928, Fleming returned to his 
laboratory after a month away with his family, and 
noticed that a culture of Staphylococcus aureus he 
had left out had become contaminated with a mold.
He also discovered that the colonies of staphylococci 
surrounding this mold had been destroyed.
Source: www.biography.com 1
0
Honors
In 1946, Fleming succeeded Almroth Edward Wright 
as head of St. Mary's Inoculation Department, which 
was renamed the Wright-Fleming Institute.
 Additionally, Fleming served as president of the 
Society for General Microbiology, a member of the 
Pontifical Academy of Science, and an honorary 
member of nearly every medical and scientific 
society in the world.
Source: www.biography.com 1
1
Later Years
Fleming died of a heart attack on March 11, 1955, at 
his home in London, England. He was survived by his 
second wife, Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, and his 
only child, Robert, from his first marriage.
Source: www.biography.com 1
2