Alexander Fleming vs Berthe Morisot
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Fleming | Berthe Morisot | |
| Field | Music | Art |
| Sub-field | Musician | Painting |
| Born | 1881 | 1841 |
| Died | 1955 | 1895 |
| Country of birth | SCT | France |
| Star sign | Leo | Capricorn |
Who they are
Alexander Fleming
In September 1928, a Scottish bacteriologist returned from his summer holiday to a cluttered laboratory at St Mary's Hospital in London, and noticed something unusual on a petri dish he had left behind. A mould had contaminated one of his cultures of Staphylococcus bacteria — and around the mould, the bacteria were dead. Alexander Fleming did not immediately grasp that he had just made the most important medical discovery of the twentieth century. But he was curious enough to look more carefully, and careful enough not to throw the dish away. That decision would eventually…
Full biography of Alexander Fleming →
Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot was not admitted to the movement — she helped found it. While the history books have sometimes cast her as Manet's muse or as a remarkable exception to a male world, the truth is simpler and more radical: she was one of the best painters of her generation, and her colleagues knew it. Degas said she painted with flowers, a remark that sounds like condescension but was intended as admiration for her extraordinary lightness of touch. Manet repainted his own compositions after studying hers. She showed in seven of the eight Impressionist exhibitions,…
Full biography of Berthe Morisot →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Music for Alexander Fleming, Art for Berthe Morisot.
- Born in different countries: SCT and France.
- 40 years separate their births (1881 and 1841).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Fleming or Berthe Morisot?
- Berthe Morisot. Alexander Fleming was born in 1881, Berthe Morisot in 1841.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Fleming is filed under Music (Musician). Berthe Morisot is filed under Art (Painting).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.