Top: Photo of the stamp from Dr Tommy Sim of Departments of Internal Medicine,  Pediatrics, and Immunology, The University of Texas, Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA.

This 1953 Monaco postage stamp commemorates the 1901 discovery of anaphylaxis and features portraits of Prince Albert I of Monaco, Charles Richet, and Paul Portier. During an oceanographic expedition organized by Prince Albert I, French scientists Richet and Portier discovered that toxins from marine animals such as the Portuguese man of war (“La Physalie”) could trigger severe allergic reactions, a phenomenon they later named anaphylaxis. Both Richet and Portier received the 1913 Nobel Prize in Medicine for this groundbreaking work.

The word "anaphylaxis" was coined by them in 1902 from the Greek words ana (meaning "against" or "without") and phylaxis (meaning "protection").

Bottom: Photo was generated using AI tools