Michael Heidelberger

Michael Heidelberger
Photograph of Heidelberger by Harold Low
Born(1888-04-29)April 29, 1888
New York City, US
DiedJune 25, 1991(1991-06-25) (aged 103)
New York City
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materColumbia University
Known forProperties of antibody
Spouses
Nina Tachau
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​
(m. 1916; died 1946)​
Charlotte Rosen
​
​
(m. 1956; died 1988)​
AwardsLasker Award (1953)
Centenary Prize (1959)
National Medal of Science (1967)
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (1977)
Lasker Award (1978)
Scientific career
FieldsOrganic chemistry
Immunology
InstitutionsRockefeller Institute
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Columbia University
Rutgers University
New York University School of Medicine
Doctoral advisorMarston T. Bogert

Michael Heidelberger ForMemRS[1] (April 29, 1888 – June 25, 1991)[2] was an American immunologist, often regarded as the father of modern immunology.[3] He and Oswald Avery showed that the polysaccharides of pneumococcus are antigens, enabling him to show that antibodies are proteins. He spent most his early career at Columbia University and comparable time in his later years on the faculty of New York University. In 1934 and 1936 he received the Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1967 he received the National Medal of Science, and then he earned the Lasker Award for basic medical research in 1953 and again in 1978. His papers are held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.[4]

  1. ^ Stacey, Maurice (1994). "Michael Heidelberger. 29 April 1888-25 June 1991". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 39: 178–197. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1994.0011. PMID 11639904. S2CID 46518538.
  2. ^ "The Michael Heidelberger Papers – Biographical Information". Profiles in Science. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  3. ^ "Michael Heidelberger, 103, Dies". The Washington Post. 1991-06-28. Retrieved 2022-05-15. He became known as the father of modern immunology.
  4. ^ "Michael Heidelberger Papers 1901–1990 (bulk 1940–1975)". National Library of Medicine.