Theobald Smith

Theobald Smith ( born July 31, 1859 in Albany, New York; † 10 December 1934 in New York City, New York) was an American pathologist.

Smith studied at Cornell University and later worked in the Ministry of Agriculture of the United States of America. He then taught at the Columbian University, Washington, DC (now George Washington University). From 1896 to 1915 he was professor of comparative pathology at Harvard University. Subsequently, he was from 1915 to 1929 director of the Department of Animal Pathology at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University).

Smith discovered the means of transmission of parasitic bovine diseases. This enabled control of malaria, yellow fever and other diseases which are transmitted by insects. He found out in 1889 that the Texas fever, a cattle disease that is caused by the parasite Babesia bigemina. He later discovered that this protozoan is transmitted by ticks. He could also prove that tuberculosis is caused by various bacteria in humans and livestock and animals immunity can be conferred by injecting them an extract from disease-causing organisms.

In 1933 he was awarded the Copley Medal.