Alexander FlemingSir Alexander Fleming,FRSE,FRS,[1]FRCS(Eng)(6 August 1881 11 March 1955) was a Scottishbiologist,pharmacologistandbotanist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy. His best-known discoveries are theenzymelysozymein 1923 and theantibioticsubstancepenicillinfrom the mouldPenicillium notatumin 1928, for which he shared theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicinein 1945 withHoward FloreyandErnst Boris Chain.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Fleming was born on 6 August 1881 at Lochfield farm nearDarvel, inAyrshire,Scotland. He was the third of the four children of farmer Hugh Fleming (18161888) from his second marriage to Grace Stirling Morton (18481928), the daughter of a neighbouring farmer. Hugh Fleming had four surviving children from his first marriage. He was 59 at the time of his second marriage, and died when Alexander (known as Alec) was seven.Fleming went toLoudoun Moor Schooland Darvel School, and earned a two-year scholarship toKilmarnock Academybefore moving to London, where he attended theRoyal Polytechnic Institution.[8]After working in a shipping office for four years, the twenty-year-old Fleming inherited some money from an uncle, John Fleming. His elder brother, Tom, was already a physician and suggested to his younger sibling that he should follow the same career, and so in 1903, the younger Alexander enrolled atSt Mary's Hospital Medical SchoolinPaddington; he qualified with anMBBSdegree from the school with distinction in 1906.Fleming had been a private in theLondon Scottish Regimentof theVolunteer Forcesince 1900,[2]and had been a member of the rifle club at the medical school. The captain of the club, wishing to retain Fleming in the team suggested that he join the research department at St Mary's, where he became assistant bacteriologist to SirAlmroth Wright, a pioneer invaccinetherapy and immunology. In 1908, he gained aBScdegree with Gold Medal inBacteriology, and became a lecturer at St Mary's until 1914. Fleming served throughoutWorld War Ias a captain in theRoyal Army Medical Corps, and wasMentioned in Dispatches. He and many of his colleagues worked in battlefield hospitals at theWestern Frontin France. In 1918 he returned toSt Mary's Hospital, where he was elected Professor of Bacteriology of theUniversity of Londonin 1928. In 1951 he was elected the Rector of theUniversity of Edinburghfor a term of 3 years.