Sir Alexander Ogston

Discoverer of Staphylococcus bacterium

Alexander Ogston’s discovery in 1880 of the bacteria Staphylococcus, which causes surgical and skin infections, respiratory disease and food poisoning, provided a major breakthrough in maintaining health. Until Alexander’s discovery, many physicians believed that infection in wounds were caused by ‘bad’ air.

Born in Aberdeen, Alexander Ogston graduated from Marischal College and continued his training in Europe before returning to Aberdeen, where he practised as a surgeon and lectured at the University. Alexander’s pioneering work involved taking a smear of an abscess and analysing it under a microscope, to reveal “beautiful tangles, tufts and chains of round organisms in great numbers”. He claimed that acute abscesses were caused by micrococci, a genus of bacteria, and demonstrated that they could be killed by heat or carbolic acid. Ogston’s findings were initially met with scepticism by the British medical establishment, however, history has since recognised his important work in preventing and controlling infection.