Leon Charles Albert Calmette

Léon Charles Albert Calmette was born in Nice, France, in July 1863. He is best known for co-developing the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, which is primarily used against tuberculosis. Calmette is often associated with his contemporaries Louis Pasteur and Émile Roux, the latter of whom was his professor in a course on bacteriology. In 1891, Calmette established the first branch of the Pasteur Institute in what is now Ho Chi Minh City, which focused on protection against rabies and smallpox. Among his many contributions to medicine, he revolutionized the treatment of snakebite worldwide, contributed to the development of the first immune serum against bubonic plague, and helped advance the amylolytic process, which is used in industrial brewing. Calmette died in Paris on 29 October 1933.