Gaston Ramon

Gaston Léon Ramon (born September 30, 1886 in Bellechaume , † June 8, 1963 in Paris ) was a French veterinarian and immunologist , known as a developer of toxoid vaccines (anatoxins) against diphtheria and tetanus .

Ramon was the son of a baker, attended school in Sens and studied at the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort from 1906 to 1910 . Through the school director he came into contact with Emile Roux , who brought him to the Pasteur Institute in Garches near Paris, where he worked in vaccine development. During the First World War he made vaccines more durable and safer by treating them with formaldehyde . At the same time he was in M. Nicolle's laboratory. In 1920 he received permission from Roux to run his own laboratory within the Institut Pasteur in Garches. There he developed anti-toxins against diphtheria toxin and tetanus toxin as well as methods to test their effectiveness. For the development of vaccines against the diphtheria toxin, he weakened the diphtheria toxin by treatment with formalin and heat while maintaining the immunological properties. In the mid-1920s, he tested his tetanus vaccine on humans and also developed combined vaccines. In 1926 he became head of the branch of the Pasteur Institute in Garches, which he remained until 1944. From 1934 to 1940 he was deputy director of the Pasteur Institute in Paris under the director L. Martin. From 1937 to 1940 he was in charge of all vaccine production at the Pasteur Institute, which in particular supplied large quantities for the French army. In 1940 he became director of the Pasteur Institute, but resigned shortly afterwards as he was unable to enforce organizational and financial reforms. In 1941 he became honorary director of the Pasteur Institute and head of its immunology department. In 1948 he left the Pasteur Institute and became director of the Office International des Epizooties in Paris.

In 1933 he became a member of the Leopoldina , in 1934 he was elected to the French Academy of Medicine (whose Clotilde Liard Prize he received in 1924) and became a member of the state serum committee. In 1943 he became a member of the Académie des Sciences , whose Bréant Prize he received in 1925 and the General Muteau Prize in 1937.

He was married to Marthe Momont, a great niece of Emile Roux, since 1917. In 1950 he received the Emil von Behring Prize .

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize over 150 times, but never made it (possibly because most of the nominations came from France only).

Web links

• Biography at the Pasteur Institute

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volker Mrasek : Die Ewig Nominieren , Deutschlandfunk , December 7, 2016