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 The great mind of Louis
Pasteur was born December 27, 1822 in Dole, a small town in eastern France. He was the
third child of proud father and mother, Jean-Joseph and Jeanne Roqui. Jean-Joseph worked
in a tannery that Louis often helped in. He also helped his dad outside the tannery. Louis
wanted to be a chemist all the way from his childhood. For example, when he was 5 years old he absolutely loved to watch the local chemist make creams and medicines. Later that year, 1827, the Pasteur family moved to Arbois in France for a bigger house. The house was right by the Cuisance River. Louis loved to draw detailed pictures. That would help him draw what he saw in the microscope later on in life. Determination also came in his childhood. Like when his friend was bit by a wolf and nearly died from rabies. Then Louis would not accept what everybody told him when he asked them why she almost died. They told him disease just happened. So he was then determined to find out about disease. His father had always wanted Louis to have a good education and do something with it. Obviously he did both of those. Jean-Baptiste Dumas, a chemist, was an inspiration to Pasteur while he was in college because of his talents with chemistry. In his college exam, Louis did not accept the fact that he had placed 15th out of 22 other men. One year after he rejected that offer, he took the entrance test again. This time he placed fourth in all of France. That was one time he had really proved his intelligence. He returned home from Ecole because of a serious case of, well, home sickness. Two years after he had returned home he went to a better high school than he had attended before. The high school was 30 minutes away in Besancon. There, Louis was a huge success. He graduated with honors in mathematics, physics, and Latin. In addition, he was given a prize for drawing. |
