Victor Morax (16 March 1866 – 14 May 1935) was an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

born in

Morges Morges (; , Plurale tantum, plural, probably Ablative (Latin), ablative, else dative; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud and the seat of the Morges District, distri ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He studied in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

(Germany) and

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 ...

, and from 1891 to 1903, he worked at 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 ...

in Paris. From 1903 to 1928, he was associated with the Hôpital Lariboisière, rejoining the Pasteur Institute as a permanent member in 1929. In 1930, he became a 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 ...

. While at the Pasteur Institute, Morax discovered the bacillus '' Moraxella lacunata'', a cause of chronic

conjunctivitis Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye or Madras eye, is inflammation of the conjunctiva, the thin, clear layer that covers the white surface of the eye and the inner eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness ...

. The disease is sometimes referred to as either "Morax' disease" or as "Axenfeld's conjunctivitis", named after German ophthalmologist Theodor Axenfeld (1867–1930), who made his discovery of the bacillus during the same time period as did Morax. In 1923, he became vice-president of the "International League Against

Trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium '' Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea ...

" with bacteriologist

Charles Nicolle Charles Jules Henri Nicolle (21 September 1866 – 28 February 1936) was a French bacteriologist who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of lice as the transmitter of epidemic typhus. Family Nicolle was born to Aline Lo ...

(1866–1936) serving as its president. In 1929, he published a treatise on the disorder titled ''Le Trachome''. From 1892, he was editor of the journal '' Annales d'oculistique''.

Early life

Victor Morax was born on March 16, 1866, in a small villa near the Lake of Geneva. Morax's father was a doctor and it was known that he had two brothers.

Career

Victor Morax worked in Louis Pasteur's laboratory where he pursued his interest in bacteriology. He later joined Parinaud as his assistant to study ophthalmology. In the 1900s, after Parinaud's passing, Morax went on to be nominated as the ophthalmologist of hospitals in Paris; he was primarily focusing on conjunctivitis and ocular asepsis. In 1901, Morax developed an interest in trachoma and determined the root cause of acute trachoma. His interest in follicular conjunctivitis became prominent in his studies as he developed subgroups of conjunctivitis. He continued his work on the bacteriologic as well as ophthalmology throughout his career. Morax discovered pneumococcus in acute conjunctivitis as well as diplobacillus in angular conjunctivitis with Axenfeld. In 1903, he took over the Hopital Lariboisiere and over the span of 26 years, he was able to add more beds and update the ophthalmology department that drew in many new students. After retirement in 1928, Morax's interest in the field remained constant and he continued his theories at the Pasteur Institute.

Written works

* ''Maladies de la conjonctive et de la corné. Sémiologie oculaire''. in: Pierre-Félix Lagrange (1857-1928) and Emile Valude (1857-1930)- Encyclopédie française d’ophtalmologie. Paris, 1903–1910. * ''Précis d’ophthalmologie'', Paris, 1907; fourth edition ca 1932. * ''Glaucome et glaucomateux'', Paris, 1921. * ''Le trachome''. with P. Petit, Paris, 1929.Victor Morax
(bibliography)

References

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

Portail Institut Pasteur
(translated biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Morax, Victor 1866 births 1935 deaths French ophthalmologists People from Morges Swiss emigrants to France