André Lwoff was a French microbiologist whose seminal work in the genetic control of virus synthesis helped guide successive generations of scientists toward a new outlook on cell physiology. Lwoff's primary contributions have come from his study of the biology of viruses, including the genetics of bacteria and the mechanisms of viral infection and replication. An erudite man who painted and was well versed in philosophy and literature, Lwoff was one of the foremost teachers and mentors to guide a generation of scientists who would move biology to a new frontier. Lwoff, who was Jewish, actively participated in the French Resistance during World War II.

André Michel Lwoff was born in Ainay-le-Château, in central France, on May 8, 1902. His parents were Russian immigrants who had come to France in the late nineteenth century. His father, Solomon Lwoff, was a physician in a psychiatric hospital; his...