Jump to content

Margaret Jennings (scientist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lady Florey
Born
Margaret Augusta Fremantle

2 December 1904
Swanbourne, England
Died14 November 1994
Known forpenicillin research
Spouses

Margaret Augusta Jennings, Baroness Florey (2 December 1904, Swanbourne – 14 November 1994), née Margaret Augusta Fremantle,[1] was a British scientist who was part of the group at the University of Oxford under Howard Florey who worked on the clinical application of penicillin.

Education and career

[edit]

Jennings read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, from 1924.[2] She joined the University of Oxford's Sir William Dunn School of Pathology under Howard Florey in 1936.[3] By 1938, she was part of the team led by Florey investigating the production and applications of penicillin. Jennings undertook animal work as well as research on bacteriology.[4] As part of testing, Jennings assayed the toxicity of penicillin extracts against white cells of the blood.[5]

Personal life

[edit]

Margaret married Denys Arthur Jennings in 1930, but the couple divorced in 1946.[1] After 21 years, Jennings married Howard Florey, her long-time colleague and penicillin researcher, in 1967 after the death of his first wife Mary Ethel Florey.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Ken Harris, The Swanbourne Fremantles
  2. ^ "Prominent alumni". Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. ^ Abraham, A.P. (November 1971). "Howard Walter Florey. Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston. 1898-1968". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 17: 265. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1971.0011. JSTOR 769709. PMID 11615426. S2CID 29766722.
  4. ^ Bud, Robert (May 2013). "Discoverers and developers of penicillin (act. 1928–1950)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97279. Retrieved 15 October 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Harris 1999, pp. 243–252.
  6. ^ Harris 1999, p. 249.