Famous Jews in History: Jonas Salk (1914–1995)

Jonas Salk was born in New York to Jewish immigrant parents. Like many other immigrants, his family was poor but fixated on education.

He was the first in his family to go to university. He studied medicine, but was more interested in preventing disease than treating it.

In the early 1900s, polio was one of the most feared diseases in the world. It mainly affected children and could cause paralysis or death. Outbreaks shut down schools and changed how families lived.

Many scientists, including Salk, focused their work on trying to stop it.

At the time it was widely believed that a vaccine had to use a live, weakened version of the virus. Salk took a different approach. He used a killed version of the virus, showing it could still train the immune system without the risk of causing the disease.

Many doubted it would work. They were wrong.

In 1955, Salk introduced the first effective polio vaccine. It was tested on more than a million children in one of the largest medical trials ever conducted. Within a few years, cases dropped dramatically across the world.

He chose not to patent the vaccine. When asked who owned it, he famously replied, “Could you patent the sun?”

That decision meant the vaccine could be produced and shared widely, quickly. Millions of lives were saved, and one of the most feared diseases in the world was brought under control.

Later in life, he founded the Salk Institute, which continues scientific research today.

Learn more: Salk website - History of Salk