Alexis Carrel | |
---|---|
Born |
Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône, France |
28 June 1873
Died | 5 November 1944 Paris, France |
(aged 71)
Education | University of Lyon |
Known for | New techniques in vascular sutures and pioneering work in transplantology and thoracic surgery |
Medical career | |
Profession | Surgeon, biologist |
Institutions |
University of Chicago Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. |
Specialism | transplantology, thoracic surgery |
Notable prizes | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1912) |
Alexis Carrel (French: [alɛksi kaʁɛl]; 28 June 1873 – 5 November 1944) was a French surgeon and biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 for pioneering vascular suturing techniques. He invented the first perfusion pump with Charles A. Lindbergh opening the way to organ transplantation. Like many intellectuals of his time, he promoted eugenics. He was a regent for the French Foundation for the Study of Human Problems during Vichy France which implemented the eugenics policies there; his association with the Foundation and with Jacques Doriot's ultra-nationalist PPF led to investigations of collaborating with the Nazis, but he died before any trial could be held. He faced media attacks towards the end of his life over his alleged involvement with the Nazis.
A prominent Nobel Prize laureate in 1912, Alexis Carrel was also elected twice, in 1924 and 1927, as an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
Born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône, Carrel was raised in a devout Catholic family and was educated by Jesuits, though he had become an agnostic by the time he became a university student. He was a pioneer in transplantology and thoracic surgery. Alexis Carrel was also a member of learned societies in the U.S., Spain, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Vatican City, Germany, Italy and Greece and received honorary doctorates from Queen's University of Belfast, Princeton University, California, New York, Brown University and Columbia University.