# Edmond Sergent

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{{Short description|French physician and parasitologist}}
'''Edmond Sergent''' (23 March 1876 – 20 August 1969) was a French ([Pied-Noir](/source/Pied-Noir)) physician and parasitologist, known for his research on [malaria](/source/malaria) in Algeria. His work was often done in collaboration with his brother [Étienne Sergent](/source/%C3%89tienne_Sergent).<ref>{{cite book|author=Dedet, Jean-Pierre|title=L'Algérie d'Edmond Sergent, Directeur de l'institut Pasteur d'Alger (1912–1962)|publisher=Kallimages|date=2010|isbn=978-2915936117}}</ref><ref name=Edmond>{{cite journal|title=Edmond Sergent (1876–1969) et l'Institut Pasteur d'Algérie|author=Tribonnière, X. de la|journal=Bull Soc Pathol Exot|volume=93|issue=5|year=2000|pages=365–371|url=http://www.pathexo.fr/documents/articles-bull/T93-5-2163}}</ref>

==Biography==
Edmond Sergent was born in Philippeville, today [Skikda](/source/Skikda), in Algeria. He studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the [University of Algiers](/source/University_of_Algiers). He was an intern in the hospitals of Algiers in 1896. In 1899, he studied microbiology in Paris in the laboratory of [Émile Roux](/source/%C3%89mile_Roux) of the [Pasteur Institute](/source/Pasteur_Institute).<ref>{{cite web | title = SERGENT Edmond | url = https://www.academieoutremer.fr/academiciens/fiche.php?aId=836 | website = www.academieoutremer.fr | access-date = 2018-06-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180515183709/https://www.academieoutremer.fr/academiciens/fiche.php?aId=836 | archive-date = 2018-05-15 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Upon returning to Algeria, he was put in charge of a permanent mission in Algiers, where he inaugurated a Pasteur Institute of which he became the director in 1912 and continued in that capacity until 1963. His time was divided between his work in Algiers and his studies of [protozoology](/source/Protistology) under the direction of [Félix Mesnil](/source/F%C3%A9lix_Mesnil) and of [entomology](/source/entomology) under the direction of [Eugène Louis Bouvier](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Louis_Bouvier).<ref name=Simitzis>{{cite book|author=Simitzis-Le Flohic, Anne-Marie|chapter=Edmond Sergent|pages=144–149|location=Paris|publisher=Société Française de Parasitologie|date=2006|isbn=|title=''In:'' Sept siècles de parasitologie en France, ''ed. by Ian Humphrey-Smith''}}</ref>

Because of the Sergent brothers' outstanding reputation for their work on malaria, the French Ministry of War sent both brothers in 1916 to [Salonika](/source/Salonika) to take measures against the malaria which afflicted 60,000 men of the [Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient](/source/Corps_exp%C3%A9ditionnaire_d'Orient) stationed in Macedonia.<ref name=NoticeNécologie>{{cite web|title=Notice nécrologie d'Edmond Sergent|url=http://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/eloges/sergent_cr1969.pdf|website=academie-sciences.fr}}</ref><ref name=Edmond/>

In the second half of his career, Edmond Sergent not only worked on malaria but also did research on many diseases of humans, other mammals,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dedet, J. P.|title=Les découvertes d'Edmond Sergent sur la transmission vectorielle des agents de certaines maladies infectieuses humaines et animales|journal=Bull Soc Path Exot|volume=100|year=2007|pages=147–150|url=http://www.pathexo.fr/documents/articles-bull/T100-2-3038-4p.pdf}}</ref> and plants.

He retired to [Andilly, Val-d'Oise](/source/Andilly%2C_Val-d'Oise) and died there in 1969.

Edmond Sergent had a strong personality, sometimes bringing him into conflicts with the people around him. Passionate about his native Algeria, he had a strong family spirit, often working his brother Étienne Sergent on the same scientific projects.<ref name = Simitzis/> Edmond Sergent's artistic talent was expressed in many photographs and drawings that he made in Algeria.<ref>Photos and drawings published in {{cite book | author = Jean-Pierre Dedet | title = Edmond d'Edmond Sergeant | place = | publisher = Kallimages | date = 2010 | isbn = }}</ref>

==Research==
From 1900 to 1910, he conducted research on malaria in the Algerian marshlands, developing preventive methods of sanitation. However, the widespread practical applications of his methods were delayed by WW I and administrative obstacles.

From 1927, in collaboration with his brother Étienne, he applied his methods in a 360 hectare area of the marsh of [Ouled Mendil](/source/Dou%C3%A9ra), which was part of the marshes of [Boufarik](/source/Boufarik).

In addition to his work on malaria, he did important research on role of the [body louse](/source/body_louse) for ''[Borrelia recurrentis](/source/Borrelia_recurrentis)'' in [relapsing fever](/source/relapsing_fever) (1907–1908) and the role of ''[Phlebotomus](/source/Phlebotomus)'' in the transmission of cutaneous [leishmaniasis](/source/leishmaniasis) (1904–1921).

His discoveries also concern veterinary diseases such as: the [trypanosome](/source/Trypanosoma) cycle of the [dromedary](/source/dromedary) disease called "le debab" in Algeria (1902); malaria transmission in the [pigeon](/source/Columba_(genus)) by ''Lynchia maura'', a fly belonging to the family [Hippoboscidae](/source/Hippoboscidae) (1906–1919); and transmission by [tick](/source/tick)s of bovine [babesiosis](/source/babesiosis).

He also did research on yeast and plant diseases such as: the role of [Drosophila](/source/Drosophila) in the contamination of [yeast](/source/yeast) cultures involved in alcoholic grape fermentation; and the identification of a ''[Fusarium](/source/Fusarium)''-type fungus as the causal agent of ''[baioudh](/source/Bayoud_disease)'', a disease of the [date palm](/source/date_palm).<ref name=NoticeNécologie/><ref name=Edmond/>

==Awards and honors==
* Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur.
* Croix de Guerre 1914–1918.
* member of the [Académie des Sciences](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_des_sciences).
* member of the [Académie de Médecine](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_nationale_de_m%C3%A9decine). 
* member of the [Académie d'Agriculture](/source/Acad%C3%A9mie_d'Agriculture).
* [Mary Kingsley](/source/Mary_Kingsley) medal of the [Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine](/source/Liverpool_School_of_Tropical_Medicine) (1920).
* gold medal of the [Société de Pathologie Exotique](/source/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_de_pathologie_exotique) (1929).
* Médaille [René Caillié](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Cailli%C3%A9) of the [Société de géographie](/source/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_de_g%C3%A9ographie) (1930).
* Prix Osiris of the Académie des Sciences (1957).
* [Manson Medal](/source/Manson_Medal) of the ''Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene'' (1962).

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{cite web|title=Souvenirs constantinois|url=http://www.cdha.fr/souvenirs-constantinois-par-edmond-sergent|website=cdha.fr}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sergent, Edmond}}
Category:1876 births
Category:1969 deaths
Category:French microbiologists
Category:French parasitologists
Category:Malariologists
Category:Manson medal winners
Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Category:Pieds-noirs

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edmond Sergent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Sergent) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Sergent?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.