International Legacy
In 1885, the news that the child affected by rabies had survived thanks to the innovative vaccine developed by Louis Pasteur led thousands of people who had been bitten by rabid animals to benefit from a treatment that had not existed until then.
The success of Pasteur's discovery encouraged the French to get vaccinated against rabies, and the opening of this possibility also propelled the science of the time.
To meet the demand for rabies vaccines and to continue researching treatments for other diseases, the scientist and the Academy of Sciences of France made an international call in 1886 to raise funds. The aim was to create a non-profit organization to continue producing vaccines against rabies and to advance the study of other infectious diseases.
Pasteur himself visited influential people whom he believed might be interested in the cause. Thus, he attracted contributions from personalities such as Baron Edmond Rothschild (a French philanthropist and collector), Marguerite Boucicaut (owner of the renowned Parisian store Le Bon Marché), and Tsar Alexander III of Russia.
Illustration published in 1885 depicting Louis Pasteur administering the newly developed rabies vaccine.
The response was so overwhelming that donations even started coming in from people with limited resources. Joseph Meister (the first child cured by Pasteur) and his father, a rural worker, donated eleven francs between them.
In a couple of years, 2.5 million francs were raised, allowing for the purchase of land and the construction of the research center that still stands in the same location in Paris, now named the Institut Pasteur. "It will simultaneously serve as a clinic for rabies treatment, a center for research on infectious diseases, and a teaching center," Pasteur defined it on one occasion.
One of the first milestones of the Institut Pasteur, and the last of its creator, was paving the way for the eradication of diphtheria, a severe infectious disease that affected children and caused fever, weakness, and respiratory difficulties. Among the first scientists hired by Louis Pasteur were Émile Roux and Alexandre Yersin, who succeeded in identifying how diphtheria inundated the body with toxins. This was crucial not only for treating the disease but also for developing a vaccine.
The Institut Pasteur in Paris has been located in the same building since its establishment.
In the years leading up to Pasteur's death (in 1895), along with other colleagues, he laid the groundwork for the formation of an international network of institutes that involved the establishment of other satellite centers. During his lifetime, institutes were founded in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 1891; in Tunisia, in 1893; and in Algeria, in 1894.
Subsequently, more research centers joined this network, which even reached countries that had not been French colonies. Institutes emerged in Istanbul (Turkey), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Athens (Greece), Tehran (Iran), and St. Petersburg (Russia). In Uruguay, the Institut Pasteur of Montevideo was established in 2006.
Today, the Pasteur Network comprises 33 centers in 25 countries, and its scientists have been recognized with ten Nobel Prizes, awarded between 1908 and 2008. While the network includes scientists from various fields, for over a century, the multidisciplinary research conducted at all centers has maintained a significant focus on combating infectious diseases, in addition to addressing other objectives such as emerging diseases and microbial resistance, among others.
The Institut Pasteur de Montevideo is located in Malvín Norte.
In this way, those who work in the various Pasteur institutes continue to uphold the legacy of their founder: to combine research with education and prioritize science that benefits public health.
Louis Pasteur died on September 28, 1895, in Marnes-la-Coquette, France. He never received a Nobel Prize for his contributions, as the awards were only established in 1901.
"Louis Pasteur was neither a physician nor a surgeon, but no one has done as much for medicine and surgery than he has." — Henri Mondor, French writer and physician.