Dorothy Hodgkin

(1910-1994)
(November 1998)

Vital Life Statistics

Dorothy Hodgkin was born in Cairo, Egypt, on May 12, 1910. Her parents were both archaeologists working there at the time. She spent most of her schooling time at Sir John Leman School in Beccles, Suffolk, England.

In 1928, she joined Sommerville College at Oxford. Then she moved to Cambridge in 1932 to work with J.D. Bernal for her doctorate degree. After finished her degree, she returned to Oxford in 1934. Three years later, she married historian Thomas Hodgkin.

She studied the structure of penicillin during the 1940s. After discovering that, she began work on vitamin B12, which prevents and cures anaemia. Throughout this time, Hodgkin also worked on the structure of insulin. Finally, she discovered the structure of insulin, then proceeded to study its many forms.

Hodgkin worked to educate people about science and make it more popular throughout her life. She also exerted tremendous influence on science internationally. She traveled around the world, and people from many different nations worked on projects with her.

Before dying, Hodgkin was involved in the campaign for peace and disarmament.

Dorothy Hodgkin died in her home in Ilmington, England, on July 30, 1994.

Achievements

Dorothy Hodgkin always had a passion for chemistry. During her life, she revolutionized the field of chemistry.

Hodgkin recorded the first X-ray diffraction pattern from a protein crystal while at Cambridge in 1934. A few years later, she crystallized and X-ray photographed insulin.

In 1944, Hodgkin established the structure of penicillin's core as a ring of three carbon atoms and a nitrogen atom, through crystallographic efforts. Chemist colleague John Cornforth had doubts about her findings. He said, "If that's the formula of penicillin, I'll give up chemistry and grow mushrooms." Hodgkin was correct, but Cornforth did not become a mushroom farmer.

Hodgkin was not done finding structures of compounds. In 1956, she determined the structure of vitamin B12. Then in 1969, she found the complete three-dimensional structure of insulin. That has recently enabled genetic engineers to improve the medicine for diabetics.

Awards and Honors

Dorothy Hodgkin received countless awards in her life. The most notable is the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She received it in 1964 "for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances."

The next year, Hodgkin was awarded the United Kingdom's highest civilian honor, the Order of Merit. She was only the second woman, after Florence Nightingale, to receive this award.

Hodgkin had other honors, too. In 1970, she was elected the Chancellor of Bristol University. She remained in that position until 1988. She also was President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science from 1977 to 1978.

Source:

1. Byers, Nina. "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin." Contribution of 20th Century Women to Physics.
2. Cohen, Linda Juliana. "Dr. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Chemist, Crystallographoger, Humanitarian."
3. Glusker, Jenny P. and Adams, Margaret J. "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994)." Physics Today May 1995.
4. Perutz, Max. "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin," Independent Newspaper.
5. Vijayan, M. "An Obituary of Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin."
6. Photograph of Dorothy Hodgkin when she received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964. Photograph by Lotte Meitner-Graf, London. Image reproduced from Guy Dodson, Jenny P. Glusker & David Sayre (eds.), Structural Studies on Molecules of Biological Interest. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981.