Alexandre Yersin with Michael Vann
Episode 54 - March 25, 2021
![Yersin](https://infectioushistorians.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Yersin.png)
Michael Vann (California State University, Sacramento) returns to the Infectious Historians (our first returning guest!), this time to focus on the biography of Alexandre Yersin, the Swiss-French doctor who discovered the bacterium that causes plague. The discussion covers Yersin’s biography from childhood, through his move to southeast Asia, his successful career and larger-than-life reputation – alongside the less palatable aspects of Yersin’s life. The conversation also touches upon issues such as Yersin’s entrepreneurship, his life as a European within a colonial context, and his personality.
Our Guest
Michael G. Vann,
Professor of History, California State University Sacramento
![Michael Vann](https://infectioushistorians.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/3T3A9463-200x300.jpeg)