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Ernst Chain

Jewish-German-born British biochemist (1906-1979) · United Kingdom · Academics · Died at 73

Ernst Chain is read about 100 times a day, in 61 languages.

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He turned Fleming's lab accident into the drug that won the war. Chain isolated and mass-produced penicillin, making antibiotics real.

ScientistsAcademicChemistryUnited KingdomEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1979Died12 August 19791977Honorary Doctorate of the University of Santiago de CompostelaAward1969Knight BachelorAward1959Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of ParisAward1956Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicAward1954Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter PrizeAward1948Fellow of the Royal SocietyAward1947Honorary Doctor of the University of BordeauxAward1945Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineAward1906Born19 June 1906

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Ernst Boris Chain 1945Ernst Boris Chain 1945Correspondence between Chain and Sir Robert Robinson Wellcome L0018619Correspondence between Chain and Sir Robert Robinson Wellcome L0018619Equipment used for making early forms of penicillin. Wellcome L0015392Equipment used for making early forms of penicillin. Wellcome L0015392Equipment used for making early forms of penicillin. Wellcome L0015393Equipment used for making early forms of penicillin. Wellcome L0015393Ernst Boris Chain 1945 (cropped)Ernst Boris Chain 1945 (cropped)Ernst Boris ChainErnst Boris ChainErnst ChainErnst Chain

In their own words 1

,
Ernst Chain
,
One statement

  1. The future of medicine is safe in your hands.

    Quoted in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, art. Chain, Ernst, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Honorary Doctorate of the University of Santiago de Compostela1977
Knight Bachelor1969
Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Paris1959
Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic1956
Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize1954
Fellow of the Royal Society1948
Honorary Doctor of the University of Bordeaux1947
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine1945
Commander of the Legion of Honour

In their orbit

Spouse: Anne Beloff-Chain

About this person

Ernst Boris Chain was born in Berlin on 19 June 1906. A biochemist by training, he fled Germany for Britain as the Nazi threat rose. Working with Howard Florey at Oxford, Chain took Alexander Fleming's 1928 observation - a mold that killed bacteria in a petri dish - and made it matter. He found a way to purify and produce penicillin in quantities that could actually treat infection. The work arrived in time for the Second World War, saving countless soldiers from wounds that would have killed them a decade earlier. In 1945, Chain, Florey, and Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He died on 12 August 1979.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1906 to 1979 · aged 73

Academics from the United Kingdom 6

Ralf Dahrendorf57.0Nicholas Higham57.0Norbert Elias57.1John N. Gray57.0Anne Hutchinson57.1Paul Grice57.0

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