Khanh Hoa Province’s Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism announced a decision to grant the posthumous title of “Honorary citizen of Vietnam” to Doctor Alexandre Yersin on Monday.
Statue of Alexandre Yersin in Nha Trang City
The decision was made at a ceremony marking Yersin's 151st birthday, held by the Club of Alexandre Yersin’s Admirers in Nha Trang.
Speaking at the event, Nguyen Thi The Tram, head of the club, said that “Alexandre Yersin had made great contributions to Nha Trang, in particular and Vietnam in general and he was worthy to be honoured as the title.
Yersin, born in Switzerland, studied medicine at prestigious institutes in Switzerland, Germany, and France. In 1891 he moved to Vietnam and lived in Nha Trang until the end of his life. He was the founder of the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute. He was also co-founder and the first dean of the Indochina Medical College, the predecessor of the current Hanoi Medical University and the Hanoi University of Pharmacology.