The announcement was made at a ceremony in Nha Trang city on September 22 to mark the doctor’s 151st birth anniversary.
Speakingat the event, Nguyen Thi The Tram, head of the club of Alexandre Yersinadmirers, praised his great contributions to Vietnam in general and NhaTrang in particular, saying that he deserved a honourary citizen ofVietnam.
Born in Switzerland, Yersin (1863 - 1943) studiedmedicine at prestigious institutes in Switzerland, Germany andFrance. He came to Vietnam in 1891 and lived in Nha Trang city formore than half of a century. He was most remembered as theco-discoverer of the bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague in1894.
He discovered Liang Biang Plateau, the site for Da Lat city, in 1893 and founded the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute in 1895.
Hewas also the founder of the Indochina Medicine School, whichlater became the Hanoi Medical University and the HanoiUniversity of Pharmacy.-VNA