Obituary Notice (Marjory Stephenson, 1885–1948)

Abstract

MarjoryStephenson disliked intensely the rituals connected with illness and death; it is felt that the only tribute to her memory which she would have appreciated would be one which might be of help to others.It is to this end that her contribution to research in chemical microbiology will be described in detail, for it covers almost the whole of the period during which the techniques ofmodern biochemistry have been applied to micro-organisms.She was one of the pioneers, and her philosophy of research con- tains much which must be of inspiration to those about to set foot in these fascinating fields.Marjory Stephenson was born on 24 January 1885 at Burwell, near Cambridge.Except for the period during and immediately before the 1914-18 war she spent the whole of her life in Cambridge and the immediate neighbourhood.At Newnham she read Natural Sciences (Chemistry, Physiology, and Zoology); she always maintained a close link with her College and became a member of the Governing Body in 1931 and of the Council in 1944.After graduating, lack of funds prevented her taking up Medicine as she wished, and the period 1906-11 was spent inthe study, andlater the teaching, ofdomestic science at Gloucester County Training College and King's College of Household Science, London.She did not much enjoy this type of teaching and rarely spoke of this phase of her career.In 1911 came the opportunity (for which she was deeply grateful) to enter biochemical research with R. H. A. Plimmer at University College, London.Here she worked successively on the lactase of in- testinal mucosa, the synthesis ofpalmitic acid esters, and finally on experimental diabetes with E. H. Starling.The tenure ofher Beit Memorial Fellowship (awarded in 1913) was however interrupted by the war.She joined the Red Cross and served with distinction in France and at Salonika, being made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross and awarded the M.B.E.In 1919 she returned to Cambridge to join the enthusiastic group of workers that F. G. Hopkins was gathering, and who, under his leadership, were to make Cambridge the centre of bio- chemical thought in Britain for a generation.She found this lively environment very much to her taste and indeed helped to make it.Her own admiration and regard for 'Hoppy' is best seen in the obituary notice she wrote in 1948; it was to be un- fortunately her last full contribution to this Journal.This feeling was reciprocated and her firm common Biochem.1950, 46 sense was, especially during the 'thirties, a great standby to Hopkins in the running of his depart- ment, in which she had by then become a leading personality.With his encouragement she soon turned her attention to micro-organisms, and from then on they were to be the dominating influence in her scientific life.Her genius was for experiment rather than theory, and perhaps this explains their unique fascination for her; in 1930, when consider- ing the place of bacteria in the universe, she wrote in the preface to the first edition of Bacterial Meta- boliwn:Perhaps bacteria may tentatively be regarded as bio- chemical experimenters; owing to their relatively small size and rapid growth, variations must arise very much more frequently than in more differentiated forms of life, and they can in addition afford to occupy more precarious positions i n natural economy than larger organisms with more exacting requirements.Her work brought an international reputation, and finally (1945) the signal honour of being (with Dr K. Lonsdale) one of the first two women to be elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society.She was also one of the first women to receive the Sc.D. of Cambridge University, then titular only.It gave her a great deal of fun, when women were finally admitted to full rights of the degree, to observe the reactions of some of the older males when she appeared in her full regalia.From the time that her Beit Fellowship expired Marjory Stephenson was supported by the Medical Research Council, first by annual grants and after 1929 as a member of their scientific staff.She was highly appreciative of the broad-minded attitude of this body

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