Alexander Fleming

NAME Sir Alexander Fleming

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Best known for his discovery of penicillin, the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance. He also discovered lysozyme.

BIRTH Alexander Fleming was born on August 6, 1881, at Lochfield Farm near Darvel in Ayrshire, Scotland.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Fleming came from a farming family. He was the seventh of eight children and the third of four children from his father's second wife. His father, Hugh Fleming, was a Scottish hill farmer, and his mother was Grace Fleming. He had four half-siblings who were the surviving children from his father Hugh's first marriage.

CHILDHOOD Growing up in rural southwestern Scotland shaped Fleming's powers of observation and appreciation for the natural world at an early age. The Fleming children spent much of their of time ranging through the streams, valleys, and moors of the countryside. "We unconsciously learned a great deal from nature," said Fleming. (1)

EDUCATION Fleming's education began at Loudoun Moor School, followed by Darvel School and Kilmarnock Academy. In 1895, at the age of 14, he moved to London to live with his elder brother Thomas, who worked as an oculist. He completed his basic education at Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster).

In 1901, Fleming began his medical studies at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, funded by a scholarship and a legacy from his uncle. He excelled in his studies, winning the 1908 gold medal as the top medical student at the University of London.

CAREER RECORD 1897-1901 Worked for four years as a London shipping clerk.

1901-1908  Fleming initially planned to become a surgeon, but after working in a temporary position in the Inoculation Department at St. Mary's Hospital, he decided to pursue bacteriology instead. He became assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology.

1908-1914 After qualifying as a doctor, Fleming became a lecturer at St. Mary's until World War I.

1914-1918 Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I, studying wound infections.

1918-1928 Fleming returned to research and teaching at St. Mary's. 

1928 -1948 Professor of Bacteriology at the University of London in 1928.

1948 Fleming retired with the title Emeritus Professor of Bacteriolog of University of London, but continued at St Marys as head of Wright-Fleming Institute of Biology.

1951-1954 Rector of Edinburgh University 

APPEARANCE Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish man of average build, often depicted in photographs and portraits as a dignified older gentleman. In his later years, Fleming had thinning hair, a high forehead, and a composed, thoughtful expression. In the last years of his life, biographers noted that he appeared to age rapidly, with "red-rimmed eyes and trembling hands," giving him the appearance of an old man seemingly overnight. (2)

Fleming in his laboratory, c. 1943

FASHION Fleming's most distinctive fashion choice was his fondness for colorful bow ties, which he wore consistently throughout his career.

CHARACTER Fleming was described as a quiet, patient, and modest gentleman who was not given to displays of emotion. He possessed a natural shyness that made him avoid accolades and attention. He could be silent to the point of being inscrutable, making it difficult even for his wife and closest friends to gauge his moods and desires.

Though occasionally brusque and aloof, he was charming and gentle among friends and loved ones. His colleagues affectionately called him "Flem". Initially a shy, uncommunicative man and a poor lecturer, he blossomed under the attention he received later in life, becoming one of the world's best-known scientists.

SPEAKING VOICE Fleming was initially considered a poor lecturer. However, his communication skills improved significantly after he gained worldwide recognition, enabling him to become an effective ambassador for science and medicine.

SENSE OF HUMOUR His playful approach to science suggests Fleming maintained a certain lightheartedness. Sir Almorth Wright once told him, "You treat research like a game. You find it all great fun," to which Fleming agreed, saying, "I play with microbes. There are, of course, many rules to this play... but when you have acquired knowledge and experience it is very pleasant to break the rules and to be able to find something nobody had thought of". (3)

RELATIONSHIPS Alexander Fleming married Sarah Marion McElroy (nicknamed Sareen), an Irish nurse from Killala, County Mayo, on December 24, 1915. The wedding took place in London. The couple had one son, Robert Fleming, born in 1924, who followed his father into medicine and became a general practitioner.

After 34 years of marriage, Sareen died in 1949, which affected Fleming profoundly. Following her death, he buried himself in his work, spending longer hours in his laboratory behind closed doors.

In 1953, two years before his death, Fleming married Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, a Greek microbiologist on April 9, 1953. The civil ceremony was held at the Chelsea Register Office in London, followed by a second ceremony at the Greek Orthodox Church in Bayswater.

Amalia had been involved in the Greek resistance movement during World War II and had been Fleming's colleague since 1946, when she enrolled at St. Mary's Hospital on a scholarship.

MONEY AND FAME Fleming received numerous honors throughout his life, most notably being knighted in 1944 and sharing the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.

Display of Fleming's awards, including his Nobel Prize. John - Wikipedia

For the last decade of his life, he was celebrated universally for his discovery of penicillin and acted as a world ambassador for medicine and science. Initially uncomfortable with public attention due to his shy nature, he eventually blossomed under the recognition, becoming one of the world's best-known scientists.

In his Nobel Banquet speech in 1945, Fleming reflected on his newfound fame: "For many years I have read of people getting the Nobel Prize. Then I always regarded them as a superior class to which it was almost impossible to aspire. Now suddenly I find myself in that class and I wonder whether they are so different". (4)

MUSIC AND ARTS Fleming had a notable artistic side. He was a member of the Chelsea Arts Club, where he created watercolor paintings, though these were described as "amateurish". As a self-taught artist with no formal training, he painted what occurred to him, with his works lacking dimension or nuance but possessing a certain vigor.

More uniquely, Fleming created "germ art" by painting with bacteria that had different natural pigments. His bacterial art included images of ballerinas, houses, soldiers, mothers feeding children, and stick figures fighting. These living paintings would "breathe back" when breathed upon, as they contained living organisms.

He also crafted "mold medallions" as gifts by sealing mold grown on blotting paper between spare eyeglass lenses from his brother's ophthalmology practice. Notable recipients included the Queen of England, Churchill, Roosevelt, friends, colleagues, and many people he met during his travels.

Fleming was also an exceptional glass blower who custom-made laboratory apparatus for his own experiments. (2) (3)

LITERATURE Fleming wrote numerous scientific papers on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy, including original descriptions of lysozyme and penicillin. His scientific writings were instrumental in documenting his discoveries and advancing the field of antibiotics.

NATURE Fleming's country upbringing in southwestern Scotland fostered his appreciation for the natural world from an early age. This early exposure to nature likely contributed to his powers of observation that would later prove crucial in his scientific discoveries.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Fleming enjoyed a variety of recreational activities. He was a member of the London Scottish Regiment's rifle club, which actually influenced his career path when the captain convinced him to pursue research rather than surgery to keep him in the club. 

He loved playing games of all sorts, including golf, checkers, quiz games, and billiards. This playful approach extended to his scientific work, which he often treated like a game. As noted earlier, his artistic pursuits included creating watercolors and bacterial artwork.

Image by Perplexity

SCIENCE AND MATHS Fleming possessed a genius for technical ingenuity and original observation. His two major scientific discoveries were lysozyme in 1922 and penicillin in 1928.

His other contributions to science included conducting the first documented systematic study of nosocomial infection, introducing a black staining dye for bacteria known as nigrosin, and expressing early concerns about penicillin overuse leading to antibiotic resistance.

DISCOVERY OF PENICILLIN Picture, if you will, a slightly rumpled Scotsman named Alexander Fleming returning to his cluttered laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital after a modest seaside holiday—sunburnt nose, pockets full of sand, and, one imagines, a certain post‑vacation reluctance to face the mountain of dirty Petri dishes awaiting him. It was September 28, 1928, and the place smelled faintly of agar, over‑boiled tea, and whatever unfortunate microbes had expired in the name of science while Fleming was off eyeing gulls. 

As he surveyed the carnage, Fleming noticed one particular dish of Staphylococcus aureus that looked curiously tidy. A rogue blob of greenish‑blue mould had plonked itself down in the middle, like an uninvited dinner guest, and every bacterial neighbour within shouting distance had disappeared—as if the mould had cleared its throat and said, “Right then, everyone out.” Around the intruder lay a perfect halo of nothingness, a microbial no‑man’s‑land. Lesser mortals might have tossed the plate in the bin; Fleming, blessed with an eye for the oddly important, peered closer and murmured something along the lines of, “Well, that’s jolly interesting.”

The mould turned out to be a species of Penicillium, and the invisible assassin it secreted was christened penicillin on March 7, 1929, a name Fleming coined with the breezy confidence of a man who had just stumbled on history’s greatest life‑saver while cleaning up after himself. He dutifully published a paper the same year—though, as was typical of Fleming, he did so in prose dry enough to desiccate a camel, ensuring that hardly anyone noticed for a good decade.

Before this happy accident, an infected splinter could book you a one‑way ticket to the pearly gates. Pneumonia, gonorrhoea, and rheumatic fever were less illnesses than grim inevitabilities. Penicillin, once coaxed into usable form, would change all that: suddenly doctors had a potion that sent bacteria scurrying for cover, and patients who might have expired on Tuesday were up and grumbling about hospital food by Friday.

There was, however, a snag. Fleming was a whiz at noticing things but hopeless at industrial chemistry. His early attempts to purify penicillin produced quantities measurable only in thimblefuls. Enter Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford, who, like pragmatic aunts tidying up after a brilliant but disorganised nephew, turned penicillin from lab curiosity into bona‑fide wonder drug in the early 1940s, just in time to keep untold numbers of Allied soldiers alive long enough to complain about army rations instead.

In 1945, the Nobel committee rounded up Fleming, Florey, and Chain and handed them the Physiology or Medicine prize, thereby acknowledging that a fortuitous spot of mould, a holiday hangover, and a lot of determined biochemistry had together delivered what some sober historians still call “the single greatest victory ever achieved over disease.”

Not bad for a chap who simply failed to tidy his lab before going to the beach.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY  Alexander Fleming wasa devout Roman Catholic. His personal faith was well known among those who studied his life, and he is cited as an example of a major scientific figure who maintained a strong religious conviction while contributing to humanity’s understanding of the natural world.

Fleming’s life and work are often referenced in discussions about the relationship between science and religion. Some commentators have noted that his devout faith and scientific achievements challenge the notion that science and religion are inherently at odds. Fleming’s example demonstrates that one can be committed to both rigorous scientific inquiry and personal religious beliefs. (5)

Fleming’s discovery of penicillin is frequently discussed in philosophical debates about “moral luck”-the idea that chance events can play a significant role in scientific achievement. While the initial discovery of penicillin was serendipitous, Fleming’s scientific skills, powers of observation, and experimental rigor were crucial in recognizing its importance. Philosophers have used his case to explore questions of praiseworthiness and the role of luck versus skill in scientific innovation. (2)

Fleming cared deeply about the ethical implications of his discoveries. He believed that antibiotics like penicillin should be used freely for the benefit of humanity, not for profit. This perspective reflects a strong commitment to social responsibility and the greater good, aligning with both ethical and humanitarian principles.

POLITICS Fleming firmly believed that medical advances, such as penicillin, should be used "freely, not for profit, but for people" and was outspoken against the idea of pharmaceutical companies patenting or monopolizing penicillin for commercial gain. When he learned that U.S. pharmaceutical companies were attempting to patent the mass production method for penicillin, he protested:

“I found penicillin and have given it free for the benefit of humanity. Why should it become a profit-making monopoly of manufacturers in another country?”

His stance aligned with broader movements in mid-20th-century Britain advocating for universal healthcare, such as the founding of the National Health Service (NHS). Fleming’s principles echoed those of contemporaries like Nye Bevan, the architect of the NHS, emphasizing that access to life-saving medicines should not be limited by the ability to pay, (6)

SCANDAL While not exactly a scandal, there was controversy regarding who should receive the most credit for penicillin's development. Despite sharing the Nobel Prize with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, their relationship was clouded by this issue. Fleming received more public recognition, partly because of the romantic narrative of his chance discovery and his greater willingness to engage with journalists. This led to what became known as "the Fleming myth," where he was portrayed as solely responsible for the development of penicillin. (7)

MILITARY RECORD Fleming was a member of the Territorial Army, serving from 1900 to 1914 in the London Scottish Regiment. During World War I, he served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps and was mentioned in dispatches for his service.

During the war, Fleming worked as a bacteriologist studying wound infections in a laboratory set up in a military hospital in Boulogne, France. Through his research there, he demonstrated that the use of strong antiseptics on wounds did more harm than good and recommended that wounds simply be kept clean with a mild saline solution.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS "A good gulp of hot whisky at bedtime-its not very scientific but it helps." Alexander Fleming when asked about a cure for colds.

HOMES Fleming was born and raised at Lochfield Farm near Darvel, Ayrshire, Scotland.

By 1901, Fleming had moved to London, residing with his elder brother Thomas and other siblings in York Street, St Marylebone.

During his early career at St Mary’s Hospital, he lived in a flat in St Marylebone, conveniently close to the hospital where he made his historic discovery of penicillin.

In later years, Fleming lived at 20a Danvers Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5AT. During World War II, it was hit by bombs in 1941, but he fortunately escaped unharmed. This address is commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque, marking it as his home during the period when he was internationally celebrated for his scientific achievements.

Fleming also maintained a country home called "The Dhoon" (sometimes spelled "The Dhwon") in Barton Mills, Suffolk, East Anglia. This retreat is documented in multiple editions of Kelly’s Directory between 1922 and 1937. 

TRAVEL After gaining worldwide recognition for his discovery of penicillin, Fleming traveled extensively overseas as a public ambassador for medicine and science. These travels took him to many countries where he was celebrated for his contributions to medical science.

DEATH Sir Alexander Fleming died suddenly of a heart attack (coronary thrombosis) at his home in Chelsea, London, on March 11, 1955. He had been experiencing what he thought was gastric discomfort for several weeks, but the fatal event came swiftly-his wife called their physician about his nausea, but Fleming died within minutes, as he had wished: "quietly, without a gradual decline in physical or mental capacity, and even without inconveniencing his physician".

A funeral service was held for Fleming at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, on March 18, 1955. The ceremony was attended by many dignitaries, colleagues, nurses, and members of the public, reflecting his immense impact on medicine and society. His widow, Lady Amalia Fleming, and other mourners followed the coffin, which contained his ashes in an urn, into the cathedral for the service.

His ashes are interred at St Paul's Cathedral alongside the tombs and memorials of other national British heroes such as Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Florence Nightingale.

His final resting place is marked by a marble plaque in the northern aisle at the east end of the crypt, inscribed:

"Remember before God

Sir Alexander Fleming F.R.S.

discoverer of penicillin

whose ashes rest

beneath this plaque

Born 6 August 1881

Died 11 March 1955"

A terracotta tile with his initials "A. F." is set into the pavement beneath the plaque

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Sir Alexander Fleming has enjoyed a surprisingly busy after‑life in the media, popping up everywhere from wartime newsreels to Google Doodles. 

His screen debut came in 1939, when British and American newsreel companies filmed him in his laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital, calmly dripping raw penicillin onto Petri dishes to reassure both civilians and Allied soldiers that a potential miracle drug was on the way. Five years later, listeners heard the real Fleming on the BBC’s wildly popular panel show The Brains Trust; the broadcast generated more than ten thousand letters, many asking whether penicillin could cure everything from influenza to baldness.

In 1945 the UK government’s Crown Film Unit released an Oscar‑winning documentary short simply titled Penicillin. Fleming appears only fleetingly—most of the film celebrates the Oxford team who scaled up production—but his cameo helped cement the lone‑genius myth already forming around him. Hollywood took a stab in 1951 with The Magic Box, a biopic of early cinematographer William Friese‑Greene. The script shoehorned Fleming—played by Wolf Morris—into a scene in which he benevolently supplies penicillin to the dying pioneer, a touching if historically dubious episode.

Television soon followed. A 1958 episode of ITV’s Armchair Theatre used Fleming’s discovery as a grim counterpoint to nineteenth‑century surgical horrors, while a 1963 U.S. medical anthology, The Doctors and the Nurses, offered a thinly disguised version of him in the character “Dr Lennox,” complete with Scottish burr and cluttered workbench. The 1960s also brought philatelic fame: Royal Mail’s 1965 “Medical Discoveries” stamp set featured Fleming alongside Joseph Lister and Edward Jenner—the first time a living British scientist appeared on a UK postage stamp.

Print culture did its part. Gwyn Macfarlane’s 1971 bestseller Fleming: Discoverer of Penicillin entrenched the tidy narrative of accidental brilliance, a storyline later questioned by historians who highlighted the equally crucial roles of Howard Florey and Ernst Chain. The BBC revisited those doubts in 1988 with Penicillin: The Miracle and the Myths, a documentary that interviewed surviving lab assistants and cheerfully dismantled several romantic legends—including the notion that the fateful Petri dish sat beside an open window.

Dramatists and satirists kept the story alive. A 1999 Anglo‑Canadian feature, Happy Accidents, portrayed Fleming as a genial but overwhelmed mentor, while a 2000 BBC Radio 4 comedy‑doc, A Dirty Petri Dish, let a sentient mould narrate its own rise to fame—a cult favourite among microbiologists.

 In the digital era Fleming continues to crop up. Google celebrated the 85th anniversary of the mould moment with an animated Doodle (August 6, 2013) showing penicillin plates chasing cartoon bacteria. A 2020 Radiolab podcast episode, The Fungus Among Us, spliced archival audio of Fleming into a story about wartime bed‑pan production lines and modern fermentation tech. Most recently, National Geographic’s 2023 series Limitless with Chris Hemsworth used a brisk montage of Fleming’s discovery to launch a discussion of antibiotic resistance and human longevity.

Across these appearances, a pattern emerges: early media painted Fleming as the heroic everyman whose accidental insight saved the world; later works reposition him as Act I in a larger ensemble, or as a cautionary emblem in the age of drug‑resistant superbugs. Yet whether he’s portrayed by actors, quoted in documentaries, or caricatured by Google, the image endures: a slightly rumpled Scotsman squinting at a dirty dish, nudging humanity toward its greatest medical victory.

ACHIEVEMENTS Discovery of lysozyme (1921)

Discovery of penicillin (1928)

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1945)

Knighthood (1944)

Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England

Numerous honorary doctorates from universities around the world.

Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1943

In 1999, he was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century. 

In 2009, he was voted the third "greatest Scot" in an opinion poll conducted by STV, behind only Robert Burns and William Wallace.

Sources (1) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (2) National Library of Medicine (3) Deepfun (4) Nobelprize.org  (5) Patheos (6) Radical Tea Towel (7) Britannica