Alexander Fleming vs El Greco
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Fleming | El Greco | |
| Field | Music | Art |
| Sub-field | Musician | Painting |
| Born | 1881 | 1541 |
| Died | 1955 | 1614 |
| Country of birth | SCT | Spain |
| Star sign | Leo | Libra |
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 →
El Greco
Domenikos Theotokopoulos — called El Greco, simply "the Greek," by the Spanish who could not pronounce his name — was born in Crete around 1541. He arrived in the world as a Byzantine icon painter, trained in the flat gold-ground tradition of Eastern Christianity, and ended his life as one of the most radical Western painters who ever lived, a figure so far ahead of his time that the twentieth century had to rediscover him to understand what he had been doing.
What they share
- Both are documented on this site with a verified biography.
Where they part
- Different fields: Music for Alexander Fleming, Art for El Greco.
- Born in different countries: SCT and Spain.
- 340 years separate their births (1881 and 1541).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Fleming or El Greco?
- El Greco. Alexander Fleming was born in 1881, El Greco in 1541.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Fleming is filed under Music (Musician). El Greco is filed under Art (Painting).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.