Albert Bruce Sabin (August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) was a Polish-born American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine. He received many awards and honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Early life
Sabin was born Albert Saperstein on August 26, 1906 in Białystok, Russian Empire (now Poland). He was of Jewish descent. He was raised in New York City, New York and in Paterson, New Jersey. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1930 and changed his last name to Sabin. Sabin studied at Paterson High School and at New York University.
Marriages
He was married to Sylvia Tregillus from 1935 until her death in 1966. Then he was married to Jane Warner from 1967 until they divorced in 1971. Then he was married to Heloisa Dunshee de Abranches from 1972 until his death in 1993. He had two daughters with Tregillus.
Death
Sabin died on March 3, 1993 in his home in Washington, D.C. from heart failure, aged 86. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Honors
Election to the Polio Hall of Fame, which was dedicated in Warm Springs, Georgia, on January 2, 1958. National Medal of Science (1970) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1986) In 1999, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center named its new education and conference center for Sabin. On March 6, 2006, the US Postal Service issued an 87¢ postage stamp carrying his image, in its Distinguished Americans series. In early 2010, Sabin was proposed by the Ohio Historical Society as a finalist in a statewide vote for inclusion in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. In 2012, Albert Sabin was named a "Great Ohioan" by the Capitol Square Foundation.
References
Other websites
Dr. Albert Sabin's Discovery of the Oral Polio Vaccine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Obituary, NY Times, March 4, 1993 Sabin Vaccine Institute Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives, University of Cincinnati The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project Blog, University of Cincinnati The Albert B. Sabin Archives Digital Collection, University of Cincinnati The Finding Aid for the Albert B. Sabin Papers, University of Cincinnati