Chemistry
John Cornforth
Chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1975, deaf from his teens
Born 1917 · Died 2013
Photo: Unknown (Associated Press) · Public domain
«She has eased for me beyond measure the difficulties of communication that accompany deafness.»
John Cornforth worked out how enzymes build cholesterol atom by atom, tracking the three-dimensional geometry of each step. He had been completely deaf since his early twenties and worked alongside his wife, also a chemist, throughout his career.
Key achievements
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1975, on enzyme-catalysed reactions
- Worked on the first industrial synthesis of penicillin
- Completely deaf from his twenties, yet led a laboratory
Universities
Sydney, New South Wales
Took a first-class degree in chemistry in 1937, having entered the university at sixteen while losing his hearing.
Oxford, England
Took his PhD under Robert Robinson in 1941, having won one of two scholarships sending Australians to Oxford.
Facts
- He began losing his hearing at ten from otosclerosis and chose chemistry partly because it was a subject he could pursue without hearing.
- His wife Rita, a fellow chemistry student at Sydney, was his co-worker and interpreter for more than sixty years.
- He worked on the first industrial production of penicillin during the war.