Howard Florey

Hello! My name is Howard Florey. I was born a long way from here, in a sunny place called Adelaide, Australia, on September 24th, 1898. Even when I was a little boy, I was very curious about the world around me. I loved learning about science and dreamed of finding ways to help people who were sick feel better.

I studied very hard in school, and in 1921, I sailed all the way to England to study at the famous University of Oxford. As a scientist, I learned about tiny things called germs that could make people very ill. I heard that another scientist, Alexander Fleming, had found a special mould called penicillin back in 1928. He noticed that it could stop germs from growing, but nobody knew how to turn this mouldy discovery into a real medicine for people. I thought to myself, 'What if my team and I could solve this puzzle?' It was a big challenge, but I knew it was important.

Back at Oxford, I put together a team of brilliant scientists to help me. One of my most important teammates was a man named Ernst Chain. Starting in the late 1930s, we worked day and night in our laboratory trying to figure out the mould's secret. It was very tricky work! We had to find a way to grow lots of the mould and then get just the 'magic' part out of it that could fight the germs inside a person's body. In 1941, after so much hard work, we were finally ready to test our new medicine on a person. It was an amazing moment when we saw that it worked!

Our medicine, penicillin, was like a miracle. It was the world's first antibiotic! An antibiotic is a special medicine that can fight off bad germs. Penicillin helped save the lives of so many people, including soldiers who were fighting in a big war called World War II. To celebrate this incredible discovery, my friend Ernst, Alexander Fleming, and I were given a very special award in 1945 called the Nobel Prize. We were so proud that our teamwork had helped the entire world.

I lived to be 69 years old. People remember me and my team for turning a bit of mould into a medicine that changed the world. Because of our work, doctors today have special medicines called antibiotics that help millions of people get well every single day. Our discovery shows that with curiosity and teamwork, you can solve even the biggest puzzles.