# Gerald Edelman

_American biologist (1929–2014)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/gerald-edelman
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> Gerald Maurice Edelman was an American biologist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work with Rodney Robert Porter on the immune system. Edelman's Nobel Prize-winning research concerned discovery of the structure of antibody molecules. In interviews, he has said that the way the components of the immune system evolve over the life of the individual is analogous to the way the components of the brain evolve in a lifetime. There is a continuity in this way between his work on the immune system, for which he won the Nobel Prize, and his later work in neuroscience and in philosophy of mind.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 1 July 1929 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Queens ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P19))
- **Died:** 17 May 2014 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P570))
- **Place of death:** La Jolla ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P27))
- **Occupation:** immunologist; neuroscientist; university teacher; neurologist; physicist; chemist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P106))
- **Education:** Ursinus College; Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; The Rockefeller University ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P69))
- **Awards:** Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Ariëns Kappers Medal; Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry; honorary doctorate of the University of La Coruña; honorary doctor of the University of Miami; honorary doctorate from the University of Paris-VII ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766#P166))

## Questions

**When was Gerald Edelman born?**  
Gerald Edelman was born on 1 July 1929 in Queens.

**Where did Gerald Edelman study?**  
Gerald Edelman was educated at Ursinus College, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, The Rockefeller University.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Gerald Edelman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Edelman) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q271766](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271766) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Gerald Edelman (cropped).jpg by Bernard Gotfryd (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerald_Edelman_(cropped).jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Gerald Edelman, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Gerald Edelman (cropped).jpg — Bernard Gotfryd, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Gerald Edelman". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/gerald-edelman. Retrieved 15 November 2026.