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Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jnr, AC CBE FRS FAA was an Australian–British chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel laureate born in New South Wales.
John Warcup Cornforth Jnr was born on 7th September 1917 in Sydney's northern suburbs, New South Wales, Australia. He was the older son and second of four children of English-born, Oxford-educated schoolmaster and teacher John Warcup Cornforth Snr and maternity nurse Hilda Eipper. [1] He was raised in both Sydney and Armidale, New South Wales. At about ten years of age, he developed noted signs of deafness, which led to a diagnosis of otosclerosis, a disease of the middle ear which causes progressive hearing loss. This left him completely deaf by the age of twenty.
He was educated at Sydney Boys' High School, excelling academically and inspired by his chemistry teacher. He entered the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc). A fellow student, Rita Harradence, and he struck up a close friendship. Afterward, John studied at St Catherine's College, University of Oxford, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Organic Chemistry. Rita concurrently studied at Oxford Uni's Somerville College, also graduating with a PhD in Organic Chemistry. (At that time, it was not possible to undertake a PhD in chemistry within Australia)
John married his Sydney sweetheart and fellow chemist, Rita Harradence, in Summer 1941 in Oxford whilst they were in their final year at university. [2]
Whilst at Oxford and during the Second World War, John significantly influenced the work on penicillin, particularly in purifying and concentrating it. He he contributed to the writing of The Chemistry of Penicillin. [3]
John was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1953.
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1972 by the UK Government.
John was named Australian of the Year in Januay 1975. That year, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He carried out the work for which he won his Nobel Prize primarily at Shell’s Milstead Laboratory of Chemical Enzymology, Sittingbourne, Kent, where he was co-director (1962-68) and then director (1968-75).
John was created Knight Bachelor in 1977 by the UK Government. The same year he was elected corresponding Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA). In the Australia Day Honours 1991 he was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in recognition of 'service to science, particularly in the field of organic chemistry'. [4] He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for 'service to Australian society through chemistry'. [5]
Aged 96 years and having been widowed since the previous year, John passed away in Brighton, Sussex on 8th December 2013, and was buried in Clayton Wood Natural Burial Ground, Clayton, West Sussex. [6][7] He is survived by his son, John, daughters, Brenda and Philippa, and four grandchildren.
Sources
- ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #34976/1917; registered at Mosman
- ↑ Marriages Sep 1941, Surname: Cornforth, Given Name: John W., Spouse: Harradence, District: Oxford, Volume: 3a, Page: 5193
- ↑ Clarke, H T; Johnson, J R; Robinson, R, eds. The Chemistry of Penicillin. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1949
- ↑ Australian Honours: AC; accessed 16 Jan 2024
- ↑ Australian Honours: Centenary Medal; accessed 16 Jan 2024
- ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #121983895
- ↑ 'Sir John Cornforth - obituary'. The Telegraph, 9 Jan 2014; accessed 16 Jan 2024
