Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Institute, Centre for Tropical Disease, Cho Quan Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
To most doctors, the name Yersin is known only for its eponymous connection with the plague bacillus, Yersinia pestis. In Vietnam, where he lived for over 50 years, Alexandre Yersin is a legendary figure. On the 100th anniversary of the identification of the plague bacillus, a review of this extraordinary man and his controversial discovery is timely.