Emile Brumpt
Alexandre Joseph Emile Brumpt (March 10, 1877 – July 8, 1951) was a French parasitologist who was born in Paris.
He studied zoology and parasitology in Paris, obtaining his degree in science in 1901, and his medical doctorate in 1906. In 1919 he became a professor to the Faculté de Médecine, as well as director of the parasitology laboratory in Paris. Much of his career was spent performing research in Africa and Latin America.
Brumpt is credited with the discovery of the avian malarial parasite, Plasmodium gallinaceum during an expedition to Ceylon. He did important research involving the African tsetse fly (Glossina palpalis) as a biological vector for trypanosomiasis. He is also credited for introducing a technique known as "xenodiagnosis"[1] into parasitological research, and did extensive studies of diseases such as bilharzia, Chagas disease, onchocerciasis and leishmaniasis. He also described Blastocystis hominis and Entamoeba dispar. The latter species helped to explain why most people who appeared to be infected with Entamoeba histolytica were asymptomatic. However because there are no morphological differences between the two species his proposal was largely ignored for over 50 years before being proven correct using molecular techniques.
Numerous parasitic species bear his name, including Plasmodium brumpti and Xenocoeloma brumpti. Also, a genus of phlebotomine sand flies, Brumptomyia, and a species of Corsican mosquito, Culex brumpti, are named after him.
Brumpt's best known written work is Précis de Parasitologie, which was published in six editions between 1910 and 1949. He also composed many scientific papers, including several on the Anopheles mosquito and its relationship to malaria.
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[edit] References
- The names of European mosquitoes: Part 7 by Keith Snow
- Institut Pasteur Chronological Highlights (biography)
