On November 14, 1888, the grand opening of the Pasteur Institute took place in Paris in the presence of the President of France, Marie François Sadi Carnot. This scientific institution was built and equipped with funds raised through international subscriptions, and its first director was the founder of microbiology, Louis Pasteur. The institute was created to support his work.

The Pasteur Institute is a leading global center for the study of infectious diseases. Important discoveries have been made here that contributed to the fight against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, influenza, yellow fever, and plague. In 1983, the HIV virus was discovered here.

Since 1908, eight scientists from the institute have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Among them was the Russian scientist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, who received the prize in 1908. Mechnikov moved to Paris in 1887 and received a laboratory at the Pasteur Institute. Since 1905, he had served as deputy director.

Today, the Pasteur Institute is the oldest and largest scientific and practical institution in the field of microbiology, epidemiology, and immunology. It conducts research in biology, microorganisms, infectious diseases, and vaccines. The institute has over 100 research laboratories, a rich library, as well as research and educational departments, laboratories for vaccine and serum production, a hospital, and a school for training mid-level medical personnel. The Pasteur Institute is also the center of a network of research institutions, including 24 institutes outside France, including in St. Petersburg.

In the summer of 1888, Emil Roux, at the request of Louis Pasteur, sent Mechnikov the plans for the under-construction institute and asked him to share his wishes regarding the arrangement of his rooms. Mechnikov was the first person Pasteur invited to work at the institute. In 1888, Mechnikov arrived in Paris and began research on phagocytosis. Young scientists from Europe flocked to him. Among his first students were the Englishman Ruffer and the Russian doctor Nikolai Chistovich. Later, scientists from France, Japan, Italy, Belgium, and Romania joined them, as well as many Russian scientists such as N.F. Gamaleya, D.K. Zabolotny, and others. Soon, the two rooms became cramped, and Pasteur allocated Mechnikov the second floor of the southern wing of the building.

Many Russian researchers passed through Mechnikov's laboratory and became his students. Many of them, after working at the institute for several months to several years, returned to their homeland, where they held chairs, organized laboratories, and created their scientific fields.

Alexander Chichkin, known as the "milk king," interned at the institute for three years. He built a trade and production empire and created a socially oriented business.