Born: 11 December 1843 · Died: 27 May 1910 · Age at death: 66
How old was Robert Koch when he died?
Robert Koch died aged 66. He was born on 11 December 1843 and died on 27 May 1910.
German doctor who identified the bacteria causing tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax and won the Nobel Prize in Medicine
Did you know?He began his groundbreaking medical research using a microscope given to him as a birthday present by his wife.
Quick facts
Date of birth11 December 1843
Date of death27 May 1910
Age at death66
Cause of deathMyocardial infarction
NationalityGerman
BirthplaceClausthal, Germany
Occupationbiologist, physician, inventor
Editor's Take:
Robert Koch proved beyond doubt that particular germs cause particular diseases. He began as a country doctor, working in a small home laboratory. In 1876 he traced the full life cycle of the anthrax bacterium. In 1882 he announced that he had found the cause of tuberculosis, then one of the world's deadliest diseases. He went on to identify the cholera germ in India. His methods for growing and staining bacteria became standard in every laboratory. His rules for linking a microbe to a disease are still taught. He won the Nobel Prize in 1905.
Key Milestones
1876: Anthrax – life cycle shown
1882: Tuberculosis – bacterium identified
1884: Cholera – bacterium confirmed
1891: Institute for Infectious Diseases
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( KOKH; German:; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. He won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis".
