Jean-Marie Camille Guérin

Camille Guérin was born to a family of modest means. His father died of tuberculosis in 1882, and his mother's second marriage to a veterinarian influenced his choice of profession. Having obtained his bachelor's degree in 1891, he entered the prestigious Ecole Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort. During his student time he was strongly influenced by the veterinary pathologist and bacteriologist Edmond Isidore Étienne Nocard (1850-1903).

Having first decided on a career in veterinary medicine, he joined Calmette at the Pasteur Institute in Lille in 1897. From then he devoted his efforts to vaccine research. He was chef de laboratoire from 1900 to 1919, and chef de service from 1919 to 1928. In 1939 he became vice-president of the Comité national de défense contre la tuberculose.

In 1948 Guérin was chairman of the first international congress on B.C.G. He was elected Président de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France in 1949, and Président de l'Académie de Médecine en 1951.

He died on June 9, 1961, aged 89, in the Hôpital Pasteur in Paris.

The Lycée Camille Guérin in Poitiers as well as several roads are named in his honour.