Edward Jenner Edward Jenner Edward Jenner, FRS FRCPE (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms "vaccine" and "vaccination" are derived from "Variolae vaccinae" (smallpox of the cow), the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1796 in the long title of his "Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox", in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox. Jenner is often called "the father of immunology", and his work is said to have "saved
Edward Jenner their return home. Napoleon remarked he could not "refuse anything to one of the greatest benefactors of mankind." Jenner's continuing work on vaccination prevented him from continuing his ordinary medical practice. He was supported by his colleagues and the King in petitioning Parliament, and was granted £10,000 in 1802 for his work on vaccination. In 1807, he was granted another £20,000 after the Royal College of Physicians confirmed the widespread efficacy of vaccination. Jenner was also elected a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1802, and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy