Max Theiler (pronounced Tyler) was one of the leading figures in the development of the yellow-fever vaccine. His early research proved that yellow-fever virus could be transmitted to mice. He later extended this research to show that mice which were given serum from humans or animals that had been previously infected with yellow fever developed an immunity to this disease. From this research, he developed two different vaccines in the 1930s, which were used to control this incurable tropical disease. For his work on the yellow-fever vaccine, Theiler was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology in 1951.

Theiler was born on a farm near Pretoria, South Africa, on January 30, 1899, the youngest of four children of Emma (Jegge) and Sir Arnold Theiler, both of whom had emigrated from Switzerland. His father, director of South Africa's veterinary services, pushed him toward a career in medicine. In part to satisfy...