Edmond Sergent (23 March 1876 – 20 August 1969) was a French (

Pied-Noir The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

) physician and parasitologist, known for his research on

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

in Algeria. His work was often done in collaboration with his brother

Étienne Sergent Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Artists and entertainers * ...

Biography

Edmond Sergent was born in Philippeville, today

Skikda Skikda (; formerly Philippeville from 1838 to 1962 and Rusicade in ancient times) is a city in northeastern Algeria and a port on the Mediterranean. It is the capital of Skikda Province and Skikda District. History The Phoenicians and Carthagi ...

, in Algeria. He studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the

University of Algiers The University of Algiers 1 (), commonly called Benyoucef Benkhedda, is a public research university based in Algiers, Algeria. Founded in 1909 from the amalgamation of different French colonial educational institutions, it has become the oldes ...

. He was an intern in the hospitals of Algiers in 1896. In 1899, he studied microbiology in Paris in the laboratory of

Émile Roux Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS (; 17 December 18533 November 1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist. Roux was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), a co-founder of the Pasteur Institute, and respo ...

of the

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 ...

. Upon returning to Algeria, he was put in charge of a permanent mission in Algiers, where he inaugurated a Pasteur Institute of which he became the director in 1912 and continued in that capacity until 1963. His time was divided between his work in Algiers and his studies of

protozoology Protistology is a scientific discipline devoted to the study of protists, a highly diverse group of eukaryotic organisms. All eukaryotes apart from animals, plants and fungi are considered protists. Its field of study therefore overlaps with the ...

under the direction of

Félix Mesnil Félix Étienne Pierre Mesnil ( Omonville-la-Petite, La Manche department, 12 December 1868 – 15 February 1938, Paris) was a French zoologist, biologist, botanist, mycologist and algologist. He was a student of Alfred Giard at the École Norm ...

and of

entomology 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 ...

under the direction of

Eugène Louis Bouvier Eugène Louis Bouvier (9 April 1856 in Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux – 14 January 1944 in Paris) was a French entomologist and carcinologist. Bouvier was a professor at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Biography Following graduation at t ...

. Because of the Sergent brothers' outstanding reputation for their work on malaria, the French Ministry of War sent both brothers in 1916 to

Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

to take measures against the malaria which afflicted 60,000 men of the

Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient The ''Corps Expéditionnaire d'Orient'' (Oriental Expeditionary Force) (CEO) was a French expeditionary force raised for service during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. The corps initially consisted of a single infantry division, but late ...

stationed in Macedonia. In the second half of his career, Edmond Sergent not only worked on malaria but also did research on many diseases of humans, other mammals, and plants. He retired to

Andilly, Val-d'Oise Andilly () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department The following is a list of the 183 Communes of France, communes of the Val-d'Oise Depart ...

and died there in 1969. Edmond Sergent had a strong personality, sometimes bringing him into conflicts with the people around him. Passionate about his native Algeria, he had a strong family spirit, often working his brother Étienne Sergent on the same scientific projects. Edmond Sergent's artistic talent was expressed in many photographs and drawings that he made in Algeria.Photos and drawings published in

Research

From 1900 to 1910, he conducted research on malaria in the Algerian marshlands, developing preventive methods of sanitation. However, the widespread practical applications of his methods were delayed by WW I and administrative obstacles. From 1927, in collaboration with his brother Étienne, he applied his methods in a 360 hectare area of the marsh of Ouled Mendil, which was part of the marshes of

Boufarik Boufarik is a town in Blida Province, Algeria, approximately 30 km from Algiers. In 2008, its population was 57,162.popul ...

. In addition to his work on malaria, he did important research on role of the

body louse The body louse (''Pediculus humanus humanus'', also known as ''Pediculus humanus corporis'') or the cootie is a hematophagic ectoparasite louse that infests humans. It is one of three lice which infest humans, the other two being the head lo ...

for ''

Borrelia recurrentis ''Borrelia recurrentis'' is a species of ''Borrelia'', a spirochaete bacterium associated with relapsing fever Relapsing fever is a vector-borne disease caused by infection with certain bacteria in the genus '' Borrelia'', which is transmitted t ...

'' in

relapsing fever Relapsing fever is a vector-borne disease caused by infection with certain bacteria in the genus '' Borrelia'', which is transmitted through the bites of lice, soft-bodied ticks (genus '' Ornithodoros''), or hard-bodied ticks (Genus Ixodes). ...

(1907–1908) and the role of ''

Phlebotomus ''Phlebotomus'' is a genus of " sand flies" in the Diptera family Psychodidae. In the past, they have sometimes been considered to belong in a separate family, Phlebotomidae, but this alternative classification has not gained wide acceptance. E ...

'' in the transmission of cutaneous

leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of Phlebotominae, phlebotomine Sandfly, sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' an ...

(1904–1921). His discoveries also concern veterinary diseases such as: the trypanosome cycle of the

dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel and one-humped camel, is a large camel of the genus '' Camelus'' with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three camel species; adult males sta ...

disease called "le debab" in Algeria (1902); malaria transmission in the

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

by ''Lynchia maura'', a fly belonging to the family

Hippoboscidae __NOTOC__ Hippoboscidae, the louse flies or keds, are obligate parasites of mammals and birds. In this family, the winged species can fly at least reasonably well, though others with vestigial or no wings are flightless and highly apomorphic. As ...

(1906–1919); and transmission by

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

s of bovine

babesiosis Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or '' Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ...

. He also did research on yeast and plant diseases such as: the role of

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

in the contamination of

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

cultures involved in alcoholic grape fermentation; and the identification of a ''

Fusarium ''Fusarium'' (; ) is a large genus of filamentous fungi, part of a group often referred to as hyphomycetes, widely distributed in soil and associated with plants. Most species are harmless saprobes, and are relatively abundant members of the s ...

''-type fungus as the causal agent of '' baioudh'', a disease of the

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

Awards and honors

* Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur. * Croix de Guerre 1914–1918. * member of the

Académie des 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 ...

. * member of the

Académie de Médecine An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. * member of the

Académie d'Agriculture The Académie d'agriculture de France (, AAF) is a voluntary association aiming to contribute to the evolution of agriculture and rural life in the scientific, technical, economic, judicial, legal, social and cultural fields. It is the successor ...

. *

Mary Kingsley ''For the English novelist, see Mary St Leger Kingsley.'' Mary Henrietta Kingsley (13 October 1862 – 3 June 1900) was an English ethnographer, writer and explorer who made numerous travels through West Africa and wrote several books on ...

medal of the

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a post-graduate teaching and research institution based in Liverpool, England, established in 1898. It was the first institution in the world dedicated to the study of tropical medicine. LSTM ...

(1920). * gold medal of the

Société de Pathologie Exotique Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...

(1929). * Médaille

René Caillié Auguste René Caillié (; 19 November 1799 – 17 May 1838) was a French explorer and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu. Caillié had been preceded at Timbuktu by a British officer, Alexander Gordon Laing, Major Gordon ...

of the

Société de géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

(1930). * Prix Osiris of the Académie des Sciences (1957). *

Manson Medal The Manson Medal (full name Sir Patrick Manson Medal, originally the Manson Memorial Medal), named in honour of Sir Patrick Manson, is the highest accolade the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene awards. Started in 1923, it is awarded tr ...

'' of the ''Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene'' (1962).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergent, Edmond 1876 births 1969 deaths French microbiologists French parasitologists Malariologists Manson medal winners Members of the French Academy of Sciences Pieds-noirs