History of penicillin History of penicillin The history of penicillin follows a number of observations and discoveries of apparent evidence of antibiotic activity in molds before the modern isolation of the chemical penicillin in 1928. There are anecdotes about ancient societies using molds to treat infections, and in the following centuries many people observed the inhibition of bacterial growth by various molds. However, it is unknown if the species involved were "Penicillium" species or if the antimicrobial substances produced were penicillin. The Scottish physician Alexander Fleming was the first to suggest that a "Penicillium" mold must secrete an antibacterial substance, and the first
Valentine Leeper Valentine Leeper Valentine Alexa Leeper (14 February 1900 – 26 July 2001) was an Australian classicist, teacher, polemicist, and letter-writer of renown. Valentine Leeper was born on Valentine's Day 1900 in the Leeper Building of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, daughter of Dr Alexander Leeper, first Warden of that college, and his second wife, Mary (née Moule). Her half-brothers, Reginald Leeper and Allen Leeper, both became prominent British diplomats. Her brother, Geoffrey Leeper, became the first professor of agricultural chemistry at the University of Melbourne. Valentine was educated at Melbourne Church of England Girls Grammar School and at