| Almroth Wright | |
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Sir Almroth E. Wright at Cambridge.
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| Born | 10 August 1861 Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, England. |
| Died | 30 April 1947 (aged 85) Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Residence | Australia, France, Germany, England. |
| Nationality | United Kingdom, British |
| Fields | bacteriology immunology |
| Institutions | Netley Hospital St Mary's Hospital, London |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
| Known for | vaccination through the use of autogenous vaccines |
Sir Almroth Edward Wright, KBE, CB (1861–1947) was a British bacteriologist and immunologist.
He is notable for developing a system of anti-typhoid fever inoculation, recognizing early on that antibiotics would create resistant bacteria and being a strong advocate for preventive medicine.
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Wright was born at Middleton Tyas, near Richmond, North Yorkshire into a family of mixed Anglo-Irish and Swedish descent.[1] He was the son of Reverend Charles Henry Hamilton Wright, deacon of Middleton Tyas, who later served in Belfast, Dublin and Liverpool and managed the Protestant Reformation Society.[2] His mother was the daughter of Nils Almroth, Governor of Swedish Royal Mint in Stockholm.[3] His junior brother Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright became a prominent librarian.
He studied medicine at Dublin University. In the 19th century, Wright worked with the armed forces of Britain to develop vaccines and promote immunisation.
In 1902 Wright started a research department at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London. He developed a system of anti-typhoid fever inoculation and a method of measuring protective substances (opsonin) in human blood. Citing the example of the Second Boer War, during which many soldiers died from easily preventable diseases, Wright convinced the armed forces that 10 million vaccines for the troops in northern France should be produced during World War I. Among the many bacteriologists who followed in Wright's footsteps at St Mary's was Sir Alexander Fleming, who in turn later discovered lysozyme and penicillin. he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1906. [4]
Wright warned early on that antibiotics would create resistant bacteria, something that has proven an increasing danger. He made his thoughts on preventive medicine influential, stressing preventive measures. Wright's ideas have been re-asserted recently—50 years after his death—by modern researchers in articles in such periodicals as Scientific American.
He also proposed that logic be introduced as a part of medical training, but his idea was never adopted. Wright also pointed out that Pasteur and Fleming, although both excellent researchers, had not actually managed to find cures for the diseases which they had sought cures, but instead had stumbled upon cures for totally unrelated diseases.
The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage by Sir Almroth Wright M.D. F.R.S. was published in 1913 and is available on the Project Gutenberg website[5].
Wright was immortalised by George Bernard Shaw as Sir Colenso Ridgeon in the play 'The Doctor's Dilemma' written in 1906.
Tthe Plato of Praed street: the life and times of Almroth Wright. M.S.Dunnill. RSM Press 2000