
author
1861–1947
Remembered as a brilliant and sometimes controversial medical thinker, he helped pioneer typhoid vaccination and pushed early ideas in immunology that shaped modern bacteriology.

by Almroth Wright
Born in Yorkshire in 1861 and educated at Trinity College Dublin, Almroth Wright became a British bacteriologist and immunologist known for turning laboratory science toward practical disease prevention. Reference works agree that he played a major role in developing vaccination against typhoid fever, work that brought him wide recognition.
He later worked at St Mary's Hospital in London, where his research and teaching influenced a generation of doctors and scientists. He was also associated with work on opsonins and vaccine therapy, and some sources note that he warned unusually early about the risk of bacteria becoming resistant to antimicrobial treatment.
Wright was a forceful public figure as well as a researcher, and his career has often been described as both important and contentious. He died in 1947, leaving a legacy tied to the rise of modern immunology and preventive medicine.