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Hans Krebs: The Genius of Biochemistry
| Article
# : |
10770 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1986 |
7,329 Words |
| Author
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Brian Wijerante and Glenn Carroll Strait
Brian Wijerante knew the Krebs family, having worked with Sir
Hans in the last few years of his life when Krebs was
actively
contributing to discussions in the areas of science, values
and education.Glenn Carroll Strait is co-editor of the
Natural
Science section. |
Regular visitors to the Krebs' residence in Iffley, Oxford, will observe, in the cozy drawing room where they were hosted, a touch of candor, of utilitarianism, and of nineteenth century German Idealism. All of these were not mere reflections of décor and furniture, of ornaments and silverware that were there, but of lively discussion that went on, and were evident in the handsome collection of books on display. There were Goethe, von Schiller, Ulrich von Hutten in the bookshelves, and, as always, Beethoven sonatas at the piano. A Beethoven volume presented to Hans Krebs bore the inscription: "To the Genius of Biochemistry, a book about the Genius of Music."
There prevailed almost invariably in that room an atmosphere rich in the best traditions of learning, of science, art and culture, with not a hint of extravagance or useless luxury in the surroundings. Such expressions were immensely familiar to those who experienced hospitality in the Krebs family home.
Sir Hans Krebs died in Oxford on 22 November 1981, at the age of eighty-one, just two weeks after he had left his beloved laboratory for hospital treatment of what he thought to be a minor stomach complaint. His death brought to a conclusion an era of research into intermediary metabolism and its regulation, of which Krebs had been a pioneer. To the central feature of that research--"The Krebs Cycle"--his name will surely be attached.
In a biographical memoir of his own teacher, Otto Warburg, Krebs says that the edifice of science can be likened to a cathedral built by the efforts of many workers but of only a few architects. Krebs believed that Warburg was one of those few. The tide of history, indubitably, makes Hans Krebs another.
Schooldays, University, and Training in Germany
He was born on 25 August 1900 in Hildeshiem, an ancient town located near Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. His family was Jewish on both sides, with ancestry receding into the German past. Hans had a sister, Elisabeth (Lise), who was five years older; a brother, Wolfgang, was born in 1902.
Despite the Krebs household's clear Jewish ancestry, Judaism had virtually no mention in the home. The children regarded themselves as wholly German. Such attitudes were characteristic of many members of the professional class who, in the late nineteenth century, saw a thawing of attitudes and practices in Imperial
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