Ceremony to mark 153rd birthday of Dr. Alexandre Yersin

(VNF) - A ceremony to mark the 153^rd birthday of Alexandre Yersin, the world's well-known physician and bacteriologist, held by Yasaka Saigon-Nhatrang Hotel and the Alexandre Yersin Admirers’ Association on September 22^nd in central Khanh Hoa province.

The event began with a screening of a documentary, about the life and career of savant Alexander Yersin (1863-1943).

Mrs. Tram, chairwoman of the Alexandre Yersin Admirers’ Association, (R) and four students have been awarded.

On this occasion, the Alexandre Yersin Admirers’ Association awarded four students with outstanding academic scores during the high school graduation examination.

Nguyen Thi My Kim also was received the certificate for her collection of Dr. Alexandre Yersin (silver prize at the 2016Thailand 32^nd Asian International Stamp Exhibition) and contribution to stamp collecting trends in Khang Hoa by the Vietnam Stamp Association.

Addressing the ceremony, Mrs. Nguyen Thi The Tram, chairwoman of the Alexandre Yersin Admirers’ Association, praised his great contributions to the world and Vietnam in general and Nha Trang in particular.

Born in 1863 in Switzerland, Alexandrre Yersin studied medicine in France and was a Swiss and naturalized French physician and bacteriologist. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague and the creator of a vaccine against this disease.

He came to Vietnam in 1891 and chose the south-central coastal city of Nha Trang for living and working until he passed away on March 1^st, 1943.

Statue of Dr. Alexandre Yersin by Nha Trang Bay.

Yersin was the founder and the first dean of Dong Duong pharmacy school, the predecessor of the present Hanoi Medical University and the Hanoi University of Pharmacy. He was also the founder and head of the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang.

For his great contribution to the Vietnamese health sector, Yersin is well remembered in the country, where he was affectionately called “Ong Nam” (“Mr. Fifth“) by the people.

Yersin’s house in Nha Trang is now the Yersin Museum, and the epitaph on his tombstone describes him as a “Benefactor and humanist, venerated by the Vietnamese people”.

The Vietnam’s government decicied to posthumously confer the “Honourary citizen of Vietnam” title on doctor Alexandre Yersin in 2013./.

Minh Phuong