Émile Roubaud (2 March 1882 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 30 September 1962 in Paris) was a French biologist and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

known for his work on paludism, yellow fever and

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is caused by the species '' Trypanosoma b ...

Biography

In 1906-08 he worked in the

French Congo The French Congo (), also known as Middle Congo (), was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, it was made part of the larger ...

, where he studied the transmission of

trypanosomiasis Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus ''Trypanosoma''. In humans this includes African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. A number of other disea ...

and the role of tsetse flies. In 1909-12 he took part in a mission in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Casamance Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia, including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance (, —i.e. Ziguinchor Region) and the Upper Casamance (, —i.e. Kolda and Sédhiou Regions). The largest city of Casamance ...

and

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

, where he performed research of

animal trypanosomiasis Animal trypanosomiasis, also known as nagana and nagana pest, or sleeping sickness, is a disease of non-human vertebrates. The disease is caused by trypanosoma, trypanosomes of several species in the genus ''Trypanosoma'' such as ''Trypanosoma ...

. On this mission he conducted geographical distribution studies of nine tsetse fly species.Emile Roubaud (1882-1962)
Service des Archives de l'Institut Pasteur In 1920, he and Félix Mesnil achieved the first experimental infection of

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

s with ''

Plasmodium vivax ''Plasmodium vivax'' is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than ''Plasmodium falciparum'', the deadliest of the five huma ...

''. He made his career at

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

— from 1914 to 1958 he was director of a research laboratory for medical entomology and pest biology at the institute. Here, he also taught classes in medical entomology. He was president of the Société entomologique de France in 1927 and a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 1938. In 1936 he was named president of the '' Société de pathologie exotique''.ROUBAUD Émile Charles Camille
Sociétés savantes de France He is a recipient of the

Montyon Prize The Montyon Prize () is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French Revolution, the B ...

Selected works

* ''La Glossina palpalis, sa biologie, son rôle dans l'étiologie des Trypanosomiases'', 1909 (doctoral thesis); ''Glossina palpalis'', its biology, its role involving the etiology of trypanosomiasis. * ''La maladie du sommeil au Congo français'', 1909 (in collaboration with G. Martin and A. Lebœuf) –

Sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is caused by the species '' Trypanosoma b ...

in the French Congo. * ''Études sur la faune parasitique de l’Afrique occidentale française'', 1914 – Studies of parasitic fauna in

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

Sources

* (French)

External links

Émile Roubaud on www.pasteur.fr (French)
1882 births Scientists from Paris French pathologists French biologists French entomologists Presidents of the Société entomologique de France Malariologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Commanders of the Legion of Honour 1962 deaths 20th-century French biologists {{France-biologist-stub

Biography

Selected works

See also

Sources

External links