The Resume

(February 28, 1915-October 2, 1987)
Born in Petropolis, Brazil
Biologist
Studied tissue grafting
Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering acquired immune tolerance (1960)
Director of the National Institute for Medical Research (1962-71)
Wrote 'The Uniqueness of the Individual' (1957), 'The Future of Man' (1959), 'The Art of the Soluble' (1967), 'The Hope of Progress' (1972), 'The Life of Science' (1977), 'Advice to a Young Scientist' (1979) and 'Memoirs of a Thinking Radish' (1986)
Knighted (1965)
Appointed to the Order of Merit (1981)

Why he might be annoying:

He failed the exam to win a scholarship to Oxford.
He said 'The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a new protein -- it rejects it,' but in realty his innovations in immunology were quickly and widely accepted.
He was a member of the Eugenics Society who convinced the Oxford University Press to publish the book 'Race' (its theme: blacks are inferior to whites and it's all due to biology) and wrote a blurb for the dust jacket.

Why he might not be annoying:

At boarding school, he was the target of anti-semitic bullying. (He was not actually Jewish, but was taken for one because of his Lebanese background.)
He became interested in skin grafts after a plane crash near his house in which the pilot was severely burned (1941).
He was married to Jean Taylor for 50 years until his death.
He continued performing research (albeit on a reduced scale) and writing after suffering several strokes.
Richard Dawkins called him 'the wittiest of all scientific writers.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• A.M. and P.M.
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 40]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [February] (Ranked: 2281915)
• Eugenics Supporters
• I am an Agnostic
• I am Brazilian
• I am Lebanese
• I Attended Oxford
• I Died in 1987 (Ranked: 72)
• I Had a Stroke [Cerebral Vascular Accident]
• Knights
• Modern Library's 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century (Ranked: 26)
• Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (Ranked: 1960)
• Profiles 32251-32500 (Ranked: 32407)
• Scientists
• We Celebrated Our Golden Anniversary
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19871002)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 19 Votes: 68.42% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 20 Votes: 40.0% Annoying