Carrel, Alexis (18731944)
French surgeon and biologist with a philosophical interest
in the unknown possibilities of mankind. Born at Sainte-Foy-les
Lyons, France, June 28, 1873, Carrel studied at the Universities
of Dijon and Lyons, obtaining his M.D. in 1900. In 1904 he
went to Canada, hoping to raise cattle, but ended up instead
pursuing his surgical skills at the Hull Physiological Laboratory,
Chicago. In 1906 he became a staff member of the Rockefeller
Institute for Medical Research, and in 1912 received a
Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine for his work on vascular
surgery and transplantation of organs. He joined the
French army in World War I and with Henry Drysdale Dakin
developed the Carrel-Dakin solution for sterilizing infected
wounds. His philosophical interests came to the forefront in his
first book, Man the Unknown (1935), which became a best-seller.
During World War II Carrel lived in France and held an appointment
as director of the Foundation for the Study of
Human Relations under the Vichy government. After the war
he was dismissed as a collaborationist, although it is probable
that he was more interested in human biology and physiology
than politics. He died in Paris, November 5, 1944. Two of his
books, The Prayer (1948) and Voyage to Lourdes (1949), were published
posthumously.
Sources
Carrel, Alexis. Man the Unknown. New York Harper &
Brothers, 1935.
. Reflections on Life. New York Hawthorn, 1953.
. Voyage to Lourdes. New York Harper & Brothers,
1950.
