180th anniversary of Elie Metchnikoff – the founder of Gerontology – May 15, 2025
On May 15, there is a significant date in the longevity world – the 180th anniversary of the birth of Elie Metchnikoff (15 May 1845 – 15 July 1916) – a Nobel Laureate, a founder of cell immunology, and THE founder of the modern science of aging and longevity – GERONTOLOGY, the person who coined the very term “gerontology” in 1903, and paved the way toward its development, from the recognition of aging as a medical condition, to specific areas of interventions for healthy longevity – such as probiotics and microbiome treatments, immunotherapies of aging (vaccines against aging), general healthy longevity promoting and rejuvenative lifestyle regimens.
https://www.longevityhistory.com/read-the-book-online/#_Toc328319983
It is beneficial for the proponents of a field to commemorate the field’s founding figures, not just to honor their legacy, but to do some “soul searching” of the successes and failures along the way, and seek ways toward future development and improvement.
In 2015, on Metchnikoff’s 170th anniversary, many representatives of the longevity community, in several countries, commemorated Metchnikoff’s contribution, with educational events and publications, creating the special “International Metchnikoff Day” Campaign around May 15, which helped build up the longevity community and drew additional interest to the longevity field, including the professional community, general public and the press. See an overview of the “Metchnikoff Day” on his 170th anniversary on 15 May 2015. Perhaps we could repeat this happening also on the 180th anniversary, on 15 May 2025.
It may be also beneficial to commemorate Metchnikoff’s 180th anniversary, with more special events and publications, to help the historical evaluation, analyzing and strategizing the longevity filed, building the longevity community and drawing additional interest. Longevity enthusiasts are encouraged to organize such events, meetings and publications, on Metchnikoff’s anniversary on May 15, or around it in May! This reminder of Metchnikoff’s anniversary is made in advance, as preparations for commemoration may take time. It is also possible to mention Metchnikoff legacy, as a vital part of the longevity movement history, in existing longevity events, not necessarily planned in relation to Metchnikoff.
For example, in Israel, there are longevity events in May, such as the Sheba Longevity conference on May 7-8, and the longevity session at the Biomed Israel conference in Tel Aviv on May 21 https://www.longevityisrael.org/news/ – which even though not planned in relation to the anniversary, will include some mention of Metchnikoff’s legacy, at least in some of the presentations.
And there could be many events and publication directly or tangentially linked to the Anniversary.
They could express our gratitude to the historical creators of healthy longevity science and medicine, and boost the hope of emulating and hopefully surpassing their achievements!
(Painting: I. Mechnikov by Nik. Dm. Kuznetsov, 1886 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ilya_Ilyich_Mechnikov)
