# John Cornforth

> He tracked which hydrogen atoms enzymes swapped out in molecular chains — mapping the exact choreography of cholesterol's assembly and earning the only Nobel in Chemistry ever awarded to someone born in New South Wales.

*Australian-British chemist*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/john-cornforth

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Scientist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Scientists
- **Country:** Australia
- **Born:** 1917-09-07
- **Died:** 2013-12-08
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** male

## Bio

John Warcup Cornforth was born in Australia on 7 September 1917 and trained as a chemist across two Commonwealth nations. His life's work centered on a deceptively simple question: when an enzyme rewires an organic molecule, which hydrogen atoms does it actually replace? By synthesizing terpenes, olefins, and steroids and then watching enzymes operate on them, he pinpointed the precise clusters of hydrogens that shifted during each transformation. That specificity let him chart the step-by-step biosynthesis of cholesterol — a map no one had drawn before. In 1975 he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Vladimir Prelog for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. He was knighted two years later and continued working until his death on 8 December 2013.

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 55.7 / 100
- **Momentum:** 4.9 / 100  (trend: RISING)
- **Historical depth:** 22.0 / 100
- **Now attention:** 16.4 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 60.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 70.0 / 100

## Topics
#Scientists, #Scientist, #Chemistry, #Australia, #Oceania, #20th Century

## Sources
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q135154)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/John%20Cornforth)
- [جان کارنفورت](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AA)
- [Con Kornfort](https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Kornfort)
- [Джон Уоркап Корнфарт](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%A3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BF_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82)
- [Джон Корнфорт](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82)
- [জন ওয়ারকাপ কর্নফোর্থ](https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%93%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA_%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%AB%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A5)
- [John Cornforth](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [John Cornforth](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [John Warcup Cornforth](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Warcup_Cornforth)
- [John W. Cornforth](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Cornforth)
- [John Cornforth](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [John Cornforth](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [جان کورنفورث](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AB)
- [John Cornforth](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [John Warcup Cornforth](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Warcup_Cornforth)
- [John Warcup Cornforth](https://gd.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Warcup_Cornforth)
- [John Cornforth](https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [John Cornforth](https://hak.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [ג'ון קורנפורת'](https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%92'%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%AA')
- [जॉन कॉर्नफोर्थ](https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%89%E0%A4%A8_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%89%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%AB%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A5)
- [John Cornforth](https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [Ջոն Քորնֆորթ](https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%8B%D5%B8%D5%B6_%D5%94%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B6%D6%86%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%A9)
- [John Cornforth](https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- [جون كورنفورث](https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AB)
- [جون كورنفورث (استاذ جامعة من اوستراليا)](https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AB_(%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B0_%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A9_%D9%85%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7))

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