Félix Étienne Pierre Mesnil (

Omonville-la-Petite Omonville-la-Petite () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Hague.La Manche department, 12 December 1868 – 15 February 1938, Paris) was a French zoologist,

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

, botanist,

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as w ...

and algologist. He was a student of

Alfred Giard Alfred Mathieu Giard (8 August 1846 – 8 August 1908) was a French zoologist born in Valenciennes. Biography In 1867 he began his studies of natural sciences at the École Normale Supérieure, followed by work as ''préparateur de zoologie'' a ...

at the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education sca ...

and a classmate of

Maurice Caullery Maurice Jules Gaston Corneille Caullery (5 September 1868, Bergues – 13 July 1958, Paris) was a French biologist. Biography He was born in Bergues in north France on 5 September 1868. His early education was in Douai. He began as a lectu ...

. From 1892 he worked at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) 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 f ...

, initially as an associate demonstrator. He was an assistant of

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named after ...

, and in the meantime, performed studies on cellular immunity,

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

and comparative pathology in the laboratory of Ilya Ilyich Metchnikov (1845–1916). He founded the ''Pasteur Institute Bulletin'' with

Gabriel Bertrand Gabriel Bertrand (born 17 May 1867 in Paris, died 20 June 1962 in Paris) was a French pharmacologist, biochemist and bacteriologist. Bertrand introduced into biochemistry both the term “ oxidase” and the concept of trace elements. The la ...

(1867–1962),

Alexandre Besredka Alexandre Mikhailovich Besredka (29 March 1870 – 28 February 1940) was a Ukrainian-French biologist and immunologist born in Odessa. In 1910 he became a citizen of France. He studied biology in Odessa (1888–92), afterwards moving to Paris ...

(1870–1940),

Amédée Borrel Amédée Marie Vincent Borrel (1 August 1867 – 14 September 1936) was a French physician and microbiologist born in Cazouls-lès-Béziers, Hérault. Biography Borrel studied natural sciences and medicine at the University of Montpellier, ...

(1867–1936), Camille Delezenne (1868–1932) and

Auguste-Charles Marie Auguste-Charles Marie (26 July 1864 – 29 March 1935) was a French microbiologist born in Bayeux, department Calvados. He served as ''interne des hôpitaux'' in Paris, earning his medical doctorate in 1895 with a thesis on cancer titled ''Recher ...

(1864–1935). As a member of the French Commission on

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species '' Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two ty ...

, he worked for the organisation of the mission in

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial empire, French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, ...

. He also worked for the creation of the

Société de pathologie exotique 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 SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

, for which he became secretary, then president. In 1903, together with

Alphonse Laveran Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (18 June 1845 – 18 May 1922) was a French physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1907 for his discoveries of parasitic protozoans as causative agents of infectious diseases such as mala ...

(1845–1922), he showed that the

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

responsible for the

visceral leishmaniasis Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasis ...

(or "Kala-azar", a fever in India), first described by

William Boog Leishman Lieutenant-General Sir William Boog Leishman, (, 6 November 1865 – 2 June 1926) was a Scottish pathologist and British Army medical officer. He was Director-General of Army Medical Services from 1923 to 1926. Biography Leishman was born in ...

(1865–1926), is a new

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histor ...

, different from ''

Trypanosoma ''Trypanosoma'' is a genus of kinetoplastids (class Trypanosomatidae), a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma is part of the phylum Sarcomastigophora. The name is derived from the Greek ''trypano-'' (b ...

'', the agent of the sleeping sickness, and from ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

'', the agent of paludism (malaria). He temporarily named it '' Piroplasma donovani'' and Sir

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the ...

(1857–1932) proposed the genus name ''

Leishmania ''Leishmania'' is a parasitic protozoan, a single-celled organism of the genus '' Leishmania'' that are responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. They are spread by sandflies of the genus ''Phlebotomus'' in the Old World, and of the genus '' ...

'' for it. In 1920, he and Émile Roubaud achieved the first experimental infection of chimpanzees 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 ...

''. *In 1908, he is assistant director at the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

. *In 1910, he is professor at the

. *In 1913, he is vice-president of the

Société de biologie The Société de biologie is a learned society founded in Paris in 1848. The society was conceived during the French Revolution of 1848. The members of the society held regular meetings and published the proceedings in a new scientific journal. Th ...

. *In 1920, he is a member of the ''Comité consultatif de l'enseignement de médecine vétérinaire coloniale''. *In 1921, he is of member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des 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 research. It was at th ...

. *In 1922, he is a founding member of the ''Académie des sciences coloniales''. *In 1926, he is president of the

Société zoologique de France La Société zoologique de France ( en, "Zoological Society of France"), founded in 1876 by Aimé Bouvier, is a scientific society devoted to Zoology. It publishes a bulletin and organises the Prix Gadeau de Kerville de la Société zoologique d ...

. *In 1931, he is one of the free members of the

Académie de médecine An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

References

External links

Félix Mesnil on www.pasteur.fr
Biographical sketch (English). {{DEFAULTSORT:Mesnil, Felix 1868 births 1938 deaths People from Manche French biologists French zoologists French microbiologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences École Normale Supérieure alumni

See also

References

External links