The history of tuberculosis as seen through postage stamps

Abstract

It is customary, especially in continental European countries, to honour eminent medical personalities by depicting their portraits on stamps. It is therefore not surprising that quite a number of doctors who played a prominent role in the study of tuberculosis, the so-called white plague, should be so honoured. In this paper, only the work of those personalities whose portraits appear on stamps will be reviewed, with the result that some gaps will be left; however almost all the great leaders in the fight against tuberculosis, such as Laennec, Pasteur, Koch and Philips will be included.