The Koch-Pasteur Rivalry is the English title of a docudrama which premiered in 2018.
In 2022, it was shown on French and German television (arte).
The French title is
Pasteur et Koch:
Un duel de géants dans le monde des microbes
The German title is
Koch und Pasteur:
Duell im Reich der Mikroben
Notice how the order of the names is switched around. In the French title, the French citizen Pasteur comes first. In the German title, the German citizen Koch comes first.
The topic of this docudrama is the rivalry between Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, the two greatest figures in the history of medical microbiology.
Here is some basic information about this docudrama:
** Writer and director: Mathieu Schwartz
** Based on a book by Annick Perrot and Maxime Schwartz
** Run time: 95 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Patrick Bonnel as Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
** Françoise Miquelis as Marie Pasteur (wife)
** Pierre Hiessler as Robert Koch (1843-1910)
** Charlotte Krenz as Emma Koch (wife)
Louis Pasteur was a French scientist, while Robert Koch was a German scientist. They might have been friends, because they worked in the same field: the world of medical microbiology.
They studied lethal diseases. They wanted to find a cure against them or at least find out how these lethal diseases could be avoided. But instead of friends, they became rivals and enemies.
The conflict between them was fueled by nationalism and by a language barrier:
Pasteur was a French scientist who hated the Germans, especially after France was defeated by Prussia in the war of 1870-1871.
Koch was a German scientist who was not very fond of the French.
Pasteur did not really speak German, while Koch did not really speak French. They could literally not understand each other.
Both of them wanted to make the world a better place. Both of them studied medical science in order to help and save people. But that was not their only ambition.
They were vain. They wanted the glory that would come with a medical discovery and a medical break-through. Pasteur wanted to be a hero in France, while Koch wanted to be a hero in Germany.
The rivalry became a distraction. They spent a lot of time and energy trying to attack and denigrate each other.
They lived at the same time, but since Pasteur was born some twenty years before Koch, Pasteur expected Koch to act like a student in front of a teacher.
Pasteur saw himself as an authority and expected Koch to be humble in front of him. But Koch did not want to be treated as an assistant.
Koch wanted to be accepted as an equal scientist. But Pasteur could not see Koch in this way.
In this docudrama, we follow the lives and careers of Koch and Pasteur.
In this docudrama, we follow the rivalry between the two great scientists.
What do reviewers say about this docudrama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 76 percent, which corresponds to a rating of 3.8 stars on Amazon.
In my opinion, this rating is quite appropriate. I cannot go all the way to the top, because there is a flaw.
What is wrong?
Let me explain.
Cholera is one of the lethal diseases which are studied by Koch and Pasteur.
In 1883, there is an outbreak of cholera in Egypt. In the docudrama, we see how Koch and Pasteur respond to this event.
Koch assembles a team and travels to Egypt. But Pasteur is too old to travel to Egypt.
He assembles a team which is to going to Egypt with his assistant as the leader.
Both Koch and Pasteur want to study the disease and to help the victims as much as possible.
Koch is able to go there himself. But Pasteur is unable to go there himself. He has to rely on his assistant.
Pasteur and his assistant communicate via letters, but this method is very slow for obvious reasons.
In 1883, there is no way to organize instant communication between France and Egypt.
According to the drama, Koch and Pasteur want to discover the origin of the disease. What is the reason for this disease? How is it carried? How does it spread?
In 1883, there is no need to ask such questions. The British doctor John Snow (1813-1858) has already answered these questions when he studied the outbreak of cholera in London in 1854.
The disease was waterborne. It was connected with the Broad Street water pump. The water from the pump was polluted. Once people stopped using the Broad Street water pump, the spreading of the disease was stopped.
John Snow and his 1854 discovery is not mentioned in
the drama. John Snow had discovered the origin of cholera more than 25 years
before the 1883 outbreak of the disease in Egypt. But this fact is never
mentioned in the drama.
The story of the Koch-Pasteur rivalry is an important chapter in the history of medical science.
The story deserves to be told, and in this docudrama, it is done quite well. But as you can see, there is a flaw, which cannot be ignored.
I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but I have to remove one star because of this flaw. This drama deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
REFERENCES
The French version of this docudrama is available on YouTube. French narration and French subtitles.
The German version of this docudrama is also available on YouTube. German narration and German subtitles.
The Medical Detective: John Snow, Cholera and the Mystery of the Broad Street Pump
By Sandra Hempel
(2007 = hardcover)
(2008 = paperback)
Pasteur et Koch:
Un duel de géants dans le monde des microbes
By Annick Perrot and Maxime Schwartz
(Paperback) (2014)
Robert Koch und Louis Pasteur:
Duell zweier Giganten
By A. Perrot and M. Schwartz
(Hardcover) (2015)
Charité is a German television series about the history of the famous hospital in Berlin. There are three seasons:
** Season one = 2017
** Season two = 2019
** Season three = 2021
The life and career of Robert Koch is covered in season one.
The story of the British doctor John Snow and the Broad Street water pump is covered in the television series Victoria
** Season 3 episode 4 aired in February 2019
** The title of this episode is Foreign Bodies
Microbes & Men is a historical drama with six episodes which premiered on British television (BBC) in 1974.
The topic is the world of medical science. It was released on DVD in 2015.
The Koch-Pasteur rivalry is one of several cases covered in this historical drama.
*****
Pasteur et Koch:
Un duel de géants dans le monde des microbes
By Annick Perrot & Maxime Schwartz
(2014)
*****
Robert Koch und Louis Pasteur:
Duell zweier Giganten
By A. Perrot & M. Schwartz
(2015)
*****
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