Robert Koch

Facts

Robert Koch

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Robert Koch
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905

Born: 11 December 1843, Clausthal (now Clausthal-Zellerfeld), Germany

Died: 27 May 1910, Baden-Baden, Germany

Affiliation at the time of the award: Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin, Germany

Prize motivation: "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis."

Prize share: 1/1

Work

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious illness affecting tissue, especially in the lungs. Robert Koch, who had conducted a range of important studies on illnesses caused by microorganisms, discovered and described the TB bacterium in 1882. He later studied tuberculin, a substance formed by tubercle bacteria. It was hoped it could be used as a cure for TB, but proved ineffective. Robert Koch didn't believe there was a connection between TB in humans and animals, but he was not entirely correct.

To cite this section
MLA style: Robert Koch – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021. Sun. 1 Aug 2021. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1905/koch/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Learn more

Nobel Prizes 2020

Twelve laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from the formation of black holes and genetic scissors to efforts to combat hunger and develop new auction formats.

See them all presented here.
Nobel Prizes 2020 graphics

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.