View source for John Cornforth

{{Short description|Australian-British chemist (1917–2013)}}
{{Other people}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = [[Sir]]
| post-nominals     = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|AC|CBE|FRS|FAA}}
| image             = John Cornforth 1975.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Cornforth in 1975
| birth_name        = John Warcup Cornforth Jr.
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1917|9|7}}
| birth_place       = [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|2013|12|8|1917|9|7}}
| death_place       = {{Nowrap|[[Sussex]], England}}
| citizenship       = Australian<br/>British
| nationality       = Australian
| field             = [[Organic chemistry]]
| work_institution  = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Oxford]]
* [[University of Warwick]]
* [[University of Sussex]]}}
| alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Sydney]] ([[BSc]])
* [[St Catherine's College, Oxford]] ([[DPhil]])}}
| thesis_title      = Synthesis of analogues of steroid hormones
| thesis_url        = http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:oxfaleph020276672
| thesis_year       = 1941
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Robert Robinson (organic chemist)|Robert Robinson]]
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = [[Stereochemistry]] of [[enzyme]]-catalysed reactions<br>[[Cholesterol total synthesis]]<br>[[Cornforth reagent]]<br>[[Cornforth rearrangement]]
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Corday–Morgan Medal]] (1953)
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1953)<ref name="royal"/><ref name="frs">{{cite journal|last1=Battersby|first1=Sir Alan R.|last2=Young|first2=Douglas W.|title=Sir John Warcup Cornforth AC CBE. 7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume=62|year=2015|pages=19–57|issn=0080-4606|doi=10.1098/rsbm.2015.0016|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Davy Medal]] (1968)
* [[Ernest Guenther Award]] (1969)
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1975)
* [[Royal Medal]] (1976)
* [[Copley Medal]] (1982)}}
| spouse            = [[Rita Harradence]]
}}

{{Commons category |John Cornforth: Geobiography| Geobiography  of John Cornforth }}
'''Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr.''',<ref name="NNDB">{{cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/611/000100311/ |title=John Cornforth |website=[[NNDB]] |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AC|CBE|FRS|FAA}} (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an Australian{{Ndash}}British chemist who won the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1975 for his work on the [[stereochemistry]] of [[enzyme]]-[[catalysis|catalysed]] reactions,<ref name="nature_obit">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/506035a| pmid = 24499912| title = John Cornforth (1917–2013) Nobel-prizewinning chemist who tracked how enzymes build cholesterol| journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 506| issue = 7486| pages = 35| year = 2014| last1 = Hanson | first1 = Jim| bibcode = 2014Natur.506...35H| doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2012 |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/138017/Sir-John-Cornforth |title=Sir John Cornforth}}</ref> becoming the only Nobel laureate born in [[New South Wales]].<ref name=frs/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://vega.org.uk/video/programme/19 |title=John 'Kappa' Cornforth |first=Chris |last=Dean |website=[[Vega Science Trust]] |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref><ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/world/asia/john-w-cornforth-96-nobel-winning-chemist-dies.html |title=John W. Cornforth, 96, Nobel-Winning Chemist, Dies |first=Kenneth |last=Chang |date=19 December 2013 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>

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 [[terpene]]s, [[olefin]]s, and [[steroid]]s, 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]].<ref>[http://www.twu.edu/dsc/warcup-cornforthI.htm Deaf Scientist Corner – John Warcup Cornforth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126032151/https://twu.edu/dsc/warcup-cornforthI.htm |date=26 November 2020 }}, Texas Woman's University</ref> 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.<ref name="RIAUS">{{cite web |url=http://riaus.org.au/people/john-cornforth/ |title=John Cornforth |website=Royal Institution of Australia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114171411/http://riaus.org.au/people/john-cornforth/ |archive-date=14 January 2014}}</ref>

==Early life and family==
Born in Sydney, Cornforth was the son and the second of four children of English-born, [[University of Oxford|Oxford]]-educated schoolmaster and teacher John Warcup Cornforth and Hilda Eipper (1887–1969), a granddaughter of pioneering missionary and [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister [[Christopher Eipper]]. Before her marriage, Eipper had been a maternity nurse.<ref name="NNDB" /><ref name="UniSyd">{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/aboutus/cornforth.html |title=Sir John Cornforth (1917–2013) |work=University of Sydney, School of Chemistry |access-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207160559/http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/aboutus/cornforth.html |archive-date=7 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Cornforth was raised in Sydney as well as [[Armidale, New South Wales|Armidale]], in the north of New South Wales,<ref name="nobelprize">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1975/cornforth-bio.html |title=John Cornforth – Biographical |work=Nobelprize.org |year=2014 |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> where he undertook primary school education.<ref name="UniSyd" />

At about 10 years old,<ref name="UniSyd 2">{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/history/cornforths-history.shtml |title=How the Cornforths started out in chemistry |work=University of Sydney, School of Chemistry  |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> Cornforth had noted signs of deafness, which led to a diagnosis of [[otosclerosis]], a disease of the middle ear which causes progressive hearing loss. This left him completely deaf by the age of 20 but also fatefully influenced his career direction away from law, his original intended field of study, and towards chemistry.<ref>[http://biotechnology-innovation.com.au/scientists/john_cornforth.html John Cornforth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215220920/http://www.biotechnology-innovation.com.au/scientists/john_cornforth.html |date=15 February 2011 }}, biotechnology-innovation.com.au</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=II |first=Thomas H. Maugh |date=2013-12-28 |title=John Cornforth dies at 96; Nobel Prize-winning chemist |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-john-cornforth-20131229-story.html |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In an interview with [[Harry Kroto|Sir Harry Kroto]] for the [[Vega Science Trust]], Cornforth explained:<blockquote>I had to find something in which the loss of hearing would not be too severe a handicap...I chose chemistry...The most liberating thing was the realization that the literature wasn't entirely correct. It gave me quite a shock at first, and then a thrill. Because I can set this right! And always, and ever since, I've relied upon the primary literature exclusively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cornforth |first=John |date=January 2002 |title=Sir John Cornforth: An Interview by Bob Thomas and Sir Harry Kroto |url=http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/130 |access-date=April 11, 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

==Education==
Cornforth was educated at [[Sydney Boys High School|Sydney Boys' High School]], where he excelled academically, passed tests in [[English language|English]], [[mathematics]], [[science]], [[French language|French]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Latin]],<ref>{{Cite news |author=Sperans |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19320118&id=meNjAAAAIBAJ&pg=4470,1530519 |title=Bright students: intermediate stage |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=18 January 1932 |page=8}}</ref> and was inspired by his chemistry teacher, Leonard ("Len") Basser,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doherty |first=P. C. |year=2006 |title=The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: A Life in Science |url=https://archive.org/details/beginnersguideto00dohe |url-access=limited |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/beginnersguideto00dohe/page/n113 89]|isbn=9780231511261 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shsobu.org.au/our-patrons/ |title=Patrons |website=Sydney High School Old Boys Union |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-date=21 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321133700/http://www.shsobu.org.au/our-patrons/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> to change his career directions from law to chemistry.<ref name="UniSyd 2" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cribb |first=J. |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/630/full |title=Master of the molecules |magazine=[[Cosmos (magazine)|Cosmos]] |date=6 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905022725/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/630/full |archive-date=5 September 2012  }}</ref> Cornforth graduated as the [[Dux#Education|dux]] of the class of 1933 at Sydney Boys' High School, at the age of 16.<ref name="Eckert">{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/enewsletters/fund_profiles/cornforth_fund_profile.html |title=Jim Eckert writes about the Cornforth |first=Jim |last=Eckert |publisher=University of Sydney, School of Chemistry |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114081148/http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/enewsletters/fund_profiles/cornforth_fund_profile.html |archive-date=14 January 2014  }}</ref>

In 1934, Cornforth matriculated and studied at the [[University of Sydney]],<ref name="Eckert"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/john-cornforth-brilliant-chemist-was-profoundly-deaf-20131213-2zcou.html |title=John Cornforth: Brilliant chemist was profoundly deaf |date=14 December 2013 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> where he studied [[organic chemistry]] at the University of Sydney's [[University of Sydney School of Chemistry|School of Chemistry]] and from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science with [[British undergraduate degree classification#First-class honours|First-Class Honours]] and the [[University Medal]] in 1937.<ref name="RIAUS" /><ref name="UniSyd 3">{{cite web |url=http://www.chem.usyd.edu.au/aboutus/laureates.html |title=Nobel Laureates – Chemistry |website=The University of Sydney |access-date=3 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213102912/http://www.chem.usyd.edu.au/aboutus/laureates.html |archive-date=13 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During his studies, his hearing became progressively worse, thus making listening to lectures difficult.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1975/cornforth/biographical/|title=John Conforth - The Nobel Prize|website = nobelprize.org|access-date=2024-10-10}}</ref> At the time, he could not use hearing aids as the sound became distorted, and he did not significantly use [[lip reading]].{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

While studying at the University of Sydney, Cornforth met his future wife, fellow chemist and scientific collaborator, [[Rita Harradence]].<ref name="SGGHS"/><ref name="Cornforths"/> Harradence was a graduate of [[St George Girls High School]]<ref name="SGGHS">{{cite web |url=http://www.sgghs.com.au/our-school/our-archives/old-girls/page:2 |title=Notable Old Girls – History of St George Girls High School – Our School |website=St George Girls High School |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702015332/http://www.sgghs.com.au/our-school/our-archives/old-girls/page:2 |archive-date=2 July 2012  }}</ref><ref name="Cornforths">{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/aboutus/history_articles/history_thecornforths.html |title=History – Chemistry – The Cornforths |website=The University of Sydney |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203134418/http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/aboutus/history_articles/history_thecornforths.html |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a distinguished academic achiever<ref name="UniSyd" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19311215&id=3etUAAAAIBAJ&pg=2020,5303520 |title=St. George Girls' High School |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=15 December 1931}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16953707 |title=Bursaries: tenable at university |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=17 February 1933}}</ref> who had topped the state in Chemistry in the New South Wales Leaving Certificate Examination.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sciencearchive.org.au/fellows/memoirs/birch.html |title=Biographical memoirs: Arthur Birch |website=Australian Academy of Science |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321094415/http://www.sciencearchive.org.au/fellows/memoirs/birch.html |archive-date=21 March 2014  }}</ref> Harradence graduated with a Bachelor of Science with First-Class Honours and the University Medal in Organic Chemistry in 1936, a year ahead of Cornforth.<ref name="Scholarship">{{Cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17611223 |title=Scientific research |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1 July 1939}}</ref> Harradence also graduated with a [[Master of Science|MSc]] in 1937,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/admin/women/rsc.html |title=Rita Cornforth Fellowships |first=J.W. |last=White |website=Research School of Chemistry, ANU |date=5 February 1996 |access-date=2 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026095350/http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/admin/women/rsc.html |archive-date=26 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> writing a master's thesis titled "Attempts to synthesise the pyridine analogue of vitamin B1".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Harradence |first=Rita Harriet |date=1938 |title=Attempts to synthesise the pyridine analogue of vitamin B1 |type=M.Sc. |publisher=University of Sydney |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22026547?q&versionId=26560879 |access-date=1 July 2017 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In 1939, Cornforth and Harradence, independently of each other, each won one of two Science Research Scholarships (the [[1851 Research Fellowship]]) from the [[Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alumni.royalcommission1851.org/page/history |title=Award History |website=[[1851 Research Fellowship]] |access-date=2 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203020120/http://alumni.royalcommission1851.org/page/history |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> tenable overseas for two years.<ref name="Scholarship"/> At the University of Oxford, Harradence was a member of [[Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College]] while Cornforth was at [[St Catherine's College, Oxford|St. Catherine's College]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/node/584 |title=Sir John Cornforth 1917–2013 |website=St Catherine's College, Oxford |access-date=13 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014210232/https://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/node/584 |archive-date=14 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and they worked with Sir [[Robert Robinson (organic chemist)|Robert Robinson]], with whom they collaborated for 14 years.<ref name="UniSyd" /> During his time at Oxford, Cornforth found working for and with Robinson stimulating, and the two often deliberated to no end until one had a cogent case against the other's counterargument.<ref>{{cite book |title=Candid Science: Conversations with Famous Chemists |first1=I. |last1=Hargittai |first2=M. |last2=Hargittai |year=2000 |location=London, UK |publisher=Imperial College Press |isbn=1860942288}}</ref> In 1941, Cornforth and Harradence both graduated with a [[Doctor of Philosophy|D.Phil.]] in Organic Chemistry.<ref name=phd>{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=John Warcup |last=Cornforth |title=Synthesis of analogues of steroid hormones |publisher=University of Oxford |year=1941 |url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:oxfaleph020276672 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151214122925/http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:oxfaleph020276672 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 December 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alumni.sydney.edu.au/s/965/images/editor_documents/alumni-associations/USUKAA/usukaa_newsletter_winter-09.pdf |title=Winter 2009 Alumni Newsletter |publisher=The University of Sydney United Kingdom Alumni Association |date=Winter 2009}}</ref> At the time, there were no institutions or facilities at which a PhD in chemistry could be done in Australia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/staff/2013-14/201213/johncornforth |title=Obituary: Professor Sir John Cornforth |website=University of Sussex |date=20 December 2013}}</ref>

==Career==
After his arrival at Oxford and during [[World War II]], Cornforth significantly influenced the work on [[penicillin]], particularly in purifying and concentrating it. Penicillin is usually very unstable in its crude form; as a consequence of this, researchers at the time were building upon [[Howard Florey]]'s work on the drug. In 1940, Cornforth and other chemists measured the yield of penicillin in arbitrary units to understand the conditions that favoured penicillin production and activity, and he contributed to the writing of ''The Chemistry of Penicillin''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Chemistry of Penicillin |editor-first1= H. T. |editor-last1=Clarke |editor-first2=J. R. |editor-last2=Johnson |editor-first3=R. |editor-last3=Robinson |year=1949 |location=New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref>

In 1946, the Cornforths, who had by now married, left Oxford and joined the [[Medical Research Council (UK)|Medical Research Council]] (MRC), working at the [[National Institute for Medical Research]] (NIMR), where they continued on earlier work in synthesising sterols, including cholesterol. The Cornforths' collaboration with Robinson continued and flourished. In 1951, they completed, simultaneously with [[Robert Burns Woodward]]{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}, the first total synthesis of the non-aromatic steroids. At the NIMR, Cornforth collaborated with numerous biological scientists, including [[George Popják]],<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Professor George Joseph Popjak, MD, DSc, FRS: May 5, 1914 – December 30, 1998 |journal=Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=830 |year=1999 |doi=10.1161/01.ATV.19.4.830|doi-access=free }}</ref> with whom he shared an interest in cholesterol. Together, they received the [[Davy Medal]] in 1968 in recognition of their distinguished joint work on the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway to polyisoprenoids and steroids.

While working at the MRC, Cornforth was appointed a professor at the [[University of Warwick]] and was employed there from 1965 to 1971.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10547687/Sir-John-Cornforth-obituary.html |title=Sir John Cornforth Obituary |date=9 January 2014 |newspaper=The Independent}}</ref>

In 1975, Cornforth was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, alongside [[Vladimir Prelog]]. In his acceptance speech, Cornforth said:{{blockquote|Throughout my scientific career my wife has been my most constant collaborator.  Her experimental skill made major contributions to the work; she has eased for me beyond measure the difficulties of communication that accompany deafness; her encouragement and fortitude have been my strongest support.<ref name="Rita Cornforth Fellowships">{{cite web |url=http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/admin/women/rsc.html |title=Rita Cornforth Fellowships |publisher=[[Australian National University]] |access-date=27 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026095350/http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/admin/women/rsc.html |archive-date=26 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

Also in 1975, he moved to the [[University of Sussex]] in [[Brighton]] as a [[Royal Society]] [[Research Professor]].<ref name="nobelprize"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Daintith |first1=John |last2=Gjertsen |first2=Derek |title=A Dictionary of Scientists |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryscient00dain |url-access=limited |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=0192800868 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryscient00dain/page/n229 112] |edition=Abridged and updated}}</ref> Cornforth remained there as a professor and was active in research until his death.<ref name="SussexLifesci">{{cite web |url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/about/sirjohncornforth|title=Sir John Cornforth: School of Life Sciences |website=University of Sussex |access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/about_us/fame_cornforth.shtml |title=Sir John Warcup Cornforth |website=The University of Sydney}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1941, the year in which they graduated from the University of Oxford, Cornforth married Rita Harriet Harradence (b. 1915),<ref name="EB" /><ref name="SGGHS"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P004913b.htm |title=Cornforth, Rita (1915–2012) |website=Encyclopedia of Australian Science}}</ref> with whom he had one son, John, and two daughters, Brenda and Philippa.<ref name="NNDB" /><ref name="The Telegraph obit">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10547687/Sir-John-Cornforth-obituary.html |title=Sir John Cornforth |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 January 2014}}</ref> Cornforth had met Harradence after she had broken a [[Rainer Ludwig Claisen|Claisen]] flask in their second year at the University of Sydney; Cornforth, with his expertise of [[glassblowing]] and the use of a [[Blowpipe (tool)|blowpipe]], mended the break.<ref name="Bob Thomas">{{cite web |url=http://vega.org.uk/video/internal/8 |title=Kappa interviewed by Bob Thomas |website=The Vega Science Trust}}</ref> Rita Cornforth died on 6 November 2012,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/enewsletters/2013/issue-22-2013/ritacornforth.html |title=Obituary: Dr Lady Rita Cornforth |website=University of Sydney |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321133206/http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/enewsletters/2013/issue-22-2013/ritacornforth.html |archive-date=21 March 2014  }}</ref> at home with her family around her,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://announce.jpress.co.uk/21321771 |title=Lady Rita Harriet Cornforth: Obituary |website=Announce.Jpress |access-date=21 March 2014 |archive-date=21 March 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140321071811/http://announce.jpress.co.uk/21321771 |url-status=dead }}</ref> following a long illness.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/suss-ex/Newsletter29.html |title=Newsletter No. 29 |website=The Suss-Ex Club|year=2014}}</ref>

On an important author or paper that was integral to his success, Cornforth stated that he was particularly impressed by the works of German chemist [[Hermann Emil Fischer]].<ref name="Bob Thomas"/>

Cornforth died in [[Sussex]] on 8 December 2013.<ref name="The Telegraph obit"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://announce.jpress.co.uk/33157840 |title=Sir John Warcup Cornforth: Obituary |newspaper=Sussex Express |date=13 December 2013 |access-date=21 March 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151218141806/http://announce.jpress.co.uk/sussex-express/obituary/cornforth-sir-john-warcup-cornforth/33157840 |archive-date=18 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/world/asia/john-w-cornforth-96-nobel-winning-chemist-dies.html |title=John W. Cornforth, 96, Nobel-Winning Chemist, Dies |date=20 December 2013 |first=Kenneth |last=Chang |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/12/sir-john-cornforth |title=Sir John Cornforth obituary |first=Douglas |last=Young |date=13 January 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> at the age of 96.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/newsandevents/?id=22455 |title=Obituary: Professor Sir John Cornforth |website=University of Sussex |access-date=18 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219222640/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/newsandevents/?id=22455 |archive-date=19 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cornforth is survived by his three children and four grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-12-14/john-warcup-cornforth-the-only-australian-to-win-nobel-prize-for-chemistry-dies-age-95/1234694  |title=John Warcup Cornforth, the only Australian to win Nobel Prize for chemistry, dies age 95 |date=21 May 2023 |publisher=ABC Radio Australia}}</ref> He was a [[sceptic]] and an [[atheist]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sir John Cornforth ('Kappa'): Some Personal Recollections |first=Harold |last=Kroto |author-link=Harold Kroto |journal=[[Australian Journal of Chemistry]] |volume=68 |year=2015 |issue=4 |pages=697–698 |doi=10.1071/CH14601 }}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
Cornforth was named the [[Australian of the Year]] in 1975,<ref>[http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/recipients/?m=john-cornforth-1975 Australian of the Year Awards – John Cornforth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331124217/http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/recipients/?m=john-cornforth-1975 |date=31 March 2010 }}, Australian of the Year</ref> jointly with Maj. Gen. [[Alan Stretton]].<ref>{{cite book | first=Wendy |last=Lewis |author-link=Wendy Lewis | title=Australians of the Year | publisher=Pier 9 Press | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-74196-809-5 }}</ref> In 1977, Cornforth was recognised by his alma mater, the University of Sydney, with the award of an honorary [[Doctor of Science]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/alumni/our-alumni/prominent-alumni.shtml |title=Prominent Alumni |website=University of Sydney}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=12859 |title=Mourning the loss of Australia's only Nobel prize winner in Chemistry, Sir John Warcup Cornforth |first=Kirsten |last=Andrews |date=17 December 2013 |website=University of Sydney}}</ref> Cornforth's other awards and recognitions follow:
{{colbegin}}
* [[Davy Medal]] (1968; jointly with [[George Joseph Popják]])
* Elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1953|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1953]]<ref name="royal">{{cite web |url=http://royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F1953%2F06%27) |title=Cornforth, Sir, John Warcup: Library and Archive Catalogue |publisher=The Royal Society |archive-date=27 March 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140327142941/http://royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo=='EC/1953/06') |location=London |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=frs/>
* Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (CBE; 1972)<ref name=syduni>{{cite web |url=http://sydney.edu.au/science/about_us/fame_cornforth.shtml |website=University of Sydney, Faculty of Science |title=Sir John Warcup Cornforth |access-date=14 December 2013}}</ref>
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1975)
* [[Royal Medal]] (1976)
* [[Knight Bachelor]] (1977)<ref name=syduni/>
* Corresponding [[List of Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science|Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science]] (1977)
* Foreign member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (since 1978)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00018145 |title=Sir J.W. (John) Cornforth jr. (1917–2013) |website=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences  |access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
* [[Copley Medal]] (1982)
* Companion of the [[Order of Australia]] (AC; 1991)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/885968 |title=Cornforth, John Warcup (AC) |website=It's an Honour: AC |access-date=14 December 2013}}</ref>
* [[Centenary Medal]] (2001)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1127358 |website=It's an Honour |title=Centenary Medal |access-date=14 December 2013 |archive-date=22 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222151902/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1127358 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{colend}}
Cornforth's certificate of election for the [[Royal Society]] reads: {{centred pull quote|Distinguished as an Organic Chemist of outstanding originality and exceptional experimental skill, particularly in microchemical manipulation. He was the first to attribute the correct constitution to [[penicillamine]] and to synthesise the amino-acid. After making significant contributions to the synthesis of [[penicillin]] he notably developed the chemistry of the [[oxazole]] group and made oxazole itself for the first time.
The important share he took in the total synthesis of [[androgen]]ic hormones and other [[steroid]]s is gratefully recognised by all his collaborators in the investigation.
Miscellaneous work on [[natural product]]s and [[chemotherapy]] equally displays individual thought, invention, and superlative technical accomplishment.<ref name="royal"/>}}

==Popular culture==
Cornforth was the focus of a skit on an episode of [[Comedy Inc. (Australian TV series)|''Comedy Inc''.]], whereby a fictional ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show)|Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?]]'' contestant (played by [[Genevieve Morris]]) is asked "Which Australian scientist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1975?" for the million-dollar question. As it happens, the contestant gleefully claims they are second cousins with Cornforth (despite being nearly 50 years his junior) and knows Cornforth is the answer, confidently rattling off a bunch of highly specific and esoteric facts about Cornforth's life and achievements, all the while the host (a satirical portrayal of [[Eddie McGuire]]) stubbornly and continuously stalls her for dramatic effect, asking her for several minutes if she'd like to think about it more to an absurd degree.<ref>{{Citation |title=Comedy Inc - Millionaire Parody | date=17 June 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtmC0LrB6lw |access-date=2023-08-15 |language=en}}</ref>

On September 7, 2017, [[Google]] celebrated his 100th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/sir-john-cornforths-100th-birthday/|title=Sir John Cornforth's 100th Birthday|website=Google|date=7 September 2017}}</ref>

The [[Royal Australian Chemical Institute]] (RACI) honours Cornforth by naming its prize for the best PhD thesis in chemical science completed at an Australian university the Cornforth Medal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.raci.org.au/events-and-awards/awards/national-awards/research-innovation/cornforth-medal2|title=Cornforth Medal - Royal Australian Chemical Institute|website = raci.org.au|access-date=2024-10-10}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

== External links ==
* {{Nobelprize}}
* {{NPG name}}

{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{1975 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Australians of the Year}}
{{Copley Medallists 1951–2000}}
{{Authority control}}

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