German physician and the founder of modern bacteriology, known for his role in identifying the specific causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax and for giving experimental support for the concept of infectious disease. In addition to his innovative studies on these diseases, Koch created and improved laboratory technologies and techniques in the field of microbiology, and made key discoveries in public health.
His research led to the creation of Koch’s postulates, a series of four generalized principles linking specific microorganisms to specific diseases that remain today the “gold standard” in medical microbiology. As a result of his groundbreaking research on tuberculosis, Koch received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1905. The Robert Koch Institute is named in his honour.
In 1877, he demonstrated the techniques for fixing and staining bacteria. Notation for his work on wounds, septicemia and splenic fever gained him the seat on the Imperial Board of Health in 1880.
He isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis at the age of 39 in 1882. In 1884 in India, Koch was able to determine the causative agent of cholera, isolating Vibrio cholerae.
On 18 July 1867, Koch married Emma Adolfine Josephine Fraatz, and the two had a daughter, Gertrude, in 1868. Their marriage ended after 26 years in 1893, and later that same year, he married 21-year-old actress Hedwig Freiberg, causing something of a scandal as she was 28 years younger than him.
Koch died at 7pm on 27 May 1910 in Baden-Baden, Germany.
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