CHEMIST

John Cornforth

1917 - 2013

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Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr., (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an Australian–British chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel laureate born in New South Wales. Cornforth investigated enzymes that catalyse changes in organic compounds, the substrates, by taking the place of hydrogen atoms in a substrate's chains and rings. In his syntheses and descriptions of the structure of various terpenes, olefins, and steroids, Cornforth determined specifically which cluster of hydrogen atoms in a substrate were replaced by an enzyme to effect a given change in the substrate, allowing him to detail the biosynthesis of cholesterol. For this work, he won a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975, alongside co-recipient Vladimir Prelog, and was knighted in 1977. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. John Cornforth is the 134th most popular chemist (up from 182nd in 2019), the 10th most popular biography from Australia (up from 31st in 2019) and the most popular Australian Chemist.

John cornforth is most famous for his work on the synthesis of vitamin B12.

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Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, John Cornforth ranks 134 out of 602. Before him are Paul Berg, Christian B. Anfinsen, William E. Moerner, Jaroslav Heyrovský, Richard R. Ernst, and Joseph Proust. After him are Harold Urey, Wilfrid Voynich, Gerhard Ertl, Robert Burns Woodward, Paul Flory, and Jean-Marie Lehn.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1917, John Cornforth ranks 23. Before him are Eric Hobsbawm, Herbert A. Hauptman, I. M. Pei, Robert Mitchum, Ernest Borgnine, and Joan Clarke. After him are Robert Burns Woodward, Kenan Evren, Anthony Burgess, Donald Davidson, Sidney Sheldon, and Leonid Hurwicz. Among people deceased in 2013, John Cornforth ranks 27. Before him are Paul Walker, Douglas Engelbart, Djalma Santos, James Avery, Fawzia Fuad of Egypt, and Boris Berezovsky. After him are Julie Harris, Tom Clancy, Jovanka Broz, Tony Lip, Lou Reed, and Nílton Santos.

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In Australia

Among people born in Australia, John Cornforth ranks 10 out of 1,143. Before him are Don Bradman (1908), Peter C. Doherty (1940), George Miller (1945), Geoffrey Rush (1951), Tamam Shud case (1903), and Sia (1975). After him are Elizabeth Blackburn (1948), Cate Blanchett (1969), Rod Laver (1938), Rupert Murdoch (1931), Truganini (1812), and George Lazenby (1939).

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Among CHEMISTS In Australia

Among chemists born in Australia, John Cornforth ranks 1. After him are David Warren (1925).

Australian born Chemists

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