Frederick Gowland Hopkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Frederick Hopkins

Born June 20, 1861(1861-06-20)
Eastbourne, Sussex, England
Died May 16, 1947 (aged 85)
Cambridge, England
Nationality United Kingdom
Fields Biochemistry
Institutions University of Cambridge
Doctoral advisor Thomas Stevenson
Doctoral students J.B.S. Haldane
Judah Hirsch Quastel
Malcolm Dixon
Known for Discovery of vitamins, tryptophan
Notable awards Nobel Prize (1929)
Religious stance Agnostic [2]

Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins OM FRS (June 20, 1861 Eastbourne, Sussex - May 16, 1947 Cambridge) was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins. He also discovered the amino acid tryptophan, in 1901.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Hopkins was educated at the City of London School completing his further study with the University of London External Programme and the medical school at Guy's Hospital (King's College London).[1] He became Professor of Biochemistry at Cambridge University in 1914, where his students included neurochemistry pioneer Judah Hirsch Quastel.

He was awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together with Christiaan Eijkman) for his discovery that certain trace substances -- now known as vitamins -- are essential for the maintenance of good health. He also discovered that muscle contraction can lead to the accumulation of lactic acid.

Hopkins was knighted in 1925. He is the father of the archaeologist Jacquetta Hawkes (and hence the father-in-law of the writer J. B. Priestley) and also the cousin of Gerald Manley Hopkins. Although he had no formal doctoral advisor, his equivalent mentor was Thomas Stevenson.

[edit] Timeline

  • June 30, 1861: Born in Eastbourne, Sussex, England.
  • 1890: Gains B.Sc. degree from University of London.
  • 1894: Medical degree from Guy's Hospital, London.
  • 1898: Married to Jessie Anne Stevens.
  • 1898-1910: Lecturer in Chemical Physiology, Cambridge University.
  • 1905: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society (Britain's most prestigious scientific organization).
  • 1910: Appointed Fellow and Praelector in Biochemistry, Trinity College, Cambridge.
  • 1912: Publishes "Feeding Experiments Illustrating the Importance of Accessory Food Factors in Normal Dietaries", demonstrating the need for vitamins in diet.
  • 1914-1943: First ever Professor of Biochemistry at Cambridge University.
  • 1918: Awarded Royal Medal of the Royal Society.
  • 1925: Knighted by King George V.
  • 1926: Awarded Copley Medal of the Royal Society.
  • 1929: Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology.
  • 1930-1935: President of the Royal Society.
  • 1933: President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
  • 1935: Awarded the Order of Merit (Britain's most exclusive civilian honor).
  • May 16, 1947: Dies in Cambridge, England.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Joseph Needham, "Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, O.M., F.R.S. (1861-1947)," Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 17, No. 2. (Dec., 1962), pp. 117-162[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine

Johannes Fibiger (1926) · Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1927) · Charles Nicolle (1928) · Christiaan Eijkman / Frederick Hopkins (1929) · Karl Landsteiner (1930) · Otto Warburg (1931) · Charles Sherrington / Edgar Adrian (1932) · Thomas Morgan (1933) · George Whipple / George Minot / William Murphy (1934) · Hans Spemann (1935) · Henry Dale / Otto Loewi (1936) · Albert Szent-Györgyi (1937) · Corneille Heymans (1938) · Gerhard Domagk (1939) · Henrik Dam / Edward Doisy (1943) · Joseph Erlanger / Herbert Gasser (1944) · Alexander Fleming / Ernst Chain / Howard Florey (1945) · Hermann Muller (1946) · Carl Cori / Gerty Cori / Bernardo Houssay (1947) · Paul Müller (1948) · Walter Hess / Egas Moniz (1949) · Edward Kendall / Tadeusz Reichstein / Philip Hench (1950)
Complete roster · 1901–1925 · 1926–1950 · 1951–1975 · 1976–2000 · 2001–present
v • d • e
Presidents of the Royal Society

William Huggins (1900) · John Strutt (1905) · Archibald Geikie (1908) · William Crookes (1913) · Joseph John Thomson (1915) · Charles Scott Sherrington (1920) · Ernest Rutherford (1925) · Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1930) · William Henry Bragg (1935) · Henry Hallett Dale (1940) · Robert Robinson (1945) · Edgar Adrian (1950) · Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1955) · Howard Florey (1960) · Patrick Blackett (1965) · Alan Lloyd Hodgkin (1970) · Alexander R. Todd (1975) · Andrew Huxley (1980) · George Porter (1985) · Michael Atiyah (1990) · Aaron Klug (1995)

Robert May (2000) · Martin Rees (2005)
Persondata
NAME Hopkins, Frederick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English Biochemist
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Eastbourne, Sussex, England
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1947
PLACE OF DEATH Cambridge, England