Life
Abraham was born in Shirley, Southampton and attended King Edward VI School, Southampton before achieving a First in chemistry at The Queen’s College, Oxford.
After completing his doctorate in Oxford, Abraham took up a position at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology.
He became part of a research team led by Professor Howard Florey responsible for the development of penicillin and its medical applications. Sir Edward was specifically involved in the purification process and determination of its chemical structure. Florey formally recognised Abraham’s work in 1948 by nominating him to be one of the first three “penicillin” research Fellows at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was a Fellow of Lincoln until his retirement in 1980.
Abraham was the recipient of many awards over his lifetime, including a CBE in 1973 and a knighthood in 1980. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1983. He was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1958.
He died in May 1999, in Oxford, following a stroke. He was survived by his wife, Asbjörg.
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Famous quotes containing the word life:
“For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous dragon’s teeth; and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men.”
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“From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.”
—A.C. (Algernon Charles)