689:
363:, a group of scientists became the centre of modern biochemical studies. Here Stephenson was encouraged to move from animal metabolism and so began research on bacteria and their metabolism. This was the start of work that developed so that she became one of the UK's most eminent bacterial chemists.
236:
of
Cambridgeshire; he was also a chairman of the County Council. He employed many local people in his cement works. Both of Stephenson's grandfathers, Robert Matthew Stephenson (1815–1870) and Samuel Rogers, were racehorse trainers in Newmarket, a major horse-racing centre. Samuel Rogers had been a
494:
and the
Medical Research Council funded a new laboratory at Cambridge (known as the "Bug Hut"), to which she moved in 1947. Stephenson was also influential in improving teaching of microbial biochemistry; she helped set up a special Part II Biochemistry (Microbial) in Cambridge in the same year.
271:
Stephenson originally intended to study medicine after
Newnham, but her plans changed due to a lack of funds and she became a domestic science teacher, first at Gloucester County Training College and then at King's College of Household Science, London. In London she shared a flat with historian
259:, taking courses in chemistry, physiology and zoology for Part I of the Natural Sciences Tripos. At this time, women were still excluded from Cambridge University's chemistry and zoology laboratories; Newnham College had its own chemistry laboratory and women attended biology practicals in the
508:
Also in 1947 she was finally recognised by the university for her many years of service; they appointed her as the first Reader in
Chemical Microbiology, a permanent position. She died of cancer on 12 December 1948, a year after the university appointment.
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Her biographer said of
Stephenson: "She made her way in science by pioneering her own field, and her life was her work and her friends." She also found time to do gardening and to travel, visiting the United States and the USSR in the 1930s.
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The department had an unusually high proportion of women amongst its researchers, at 15 per cent, but it was still very rare for a woman to be offered a
University appointment. Stephenson was financed by her Beit Fellowship and later by the
228:. Her father Robert (1847–1929) was a farmer, surveyor and owner of a cement-manufacturing company; her mother was Sarah Rogers (1848–1925). Robert Stephenson was a prominent figure in the local community, appointed as a
371:. She was finally appointed a University lecturer in biochemistry in 1943. Meanwhile, she became an associate and later a fellow of her old College, Newnham. In 1936 the University awarded her a
48:
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Stephenson was the youngest of the family by nine years. She was first inspired to take an interest in science by her governess Anna Jane
Botwright. Stephenson later studied at the
459:
and a Privy
Council ruling on the legal status of women in 1929 rendered these arguments obsolete. But, it was not until 1943 when, spurred to action by a critical article in the
439:, which ran to three editions between 1930 and 1949. Last reprinted in 1966, it was the standard work on the subject for generations of microbiologists and biochemists.
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Lecture) in her memory. This is the
Society's principal prize, awarded biennially for an outstanding contribution of current importance in microbiology.
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After the end of the war, Stephenson returned to
Cambridge to carry out research and teach in the department of biochemistry. Under the leadership of
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548:
505:, tried to induce her to take the role of the Society's first President, but she declined; Stephenson was elected as its second president in 1947.
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Appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) and Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC) for her service during World War I
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nominated Stephenson and, after a ballot in which a large majority of Fellows voted to accept women, she was duly elected in 1945 together with
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347:(ARRC) in recognition of her service. As a result of her war-time experience, she became a pacifist and, later, was an active member of the
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753:"The integration of research on the nutrition and metabolism of micro-organisms: the inaugural Marjory Stephenson memorial lecture"
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from bacteria. With Leonard Stickland, she was the first to isolate a bacterial enzyme from the cell in 1928, when they obtained
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196:, she also served as its second president. In 1953, the Society established the Marjory Stephenson Memorial Lecture (now the
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but was rejected because the society's lawyers successfully argued that it was impossible for a woman to be a Fellow. The
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Marjory Stephenson biennial memorial lecture established by the Society for General Microbiology in her honour in 1953
192:(1930), which ran to three editions and was a standard textbook for generations of microbiologists. A founder of the
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416:,' now understood as the rapid transcriptional activation of the gene encoding the formate hydrogenlyase when the
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408:(EC 1.17.1.9), was present in cell extracts only when the bacteria had been grown in the presence of
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674:"Two old postcards of Berkhamsted School for Girls" (below several photographs of the Boys' School).
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404:. In the 1930s, she continued to work with Stickland and demonstrated that a particular enzyme,
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339:(Thessaloniki). She was mentioned in despatches, and, in December 1918, was appointed
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J. Mason 1996 Marjory Stephenson,1885–1948. In E. Shils and C. Blacker (eds.)
420:, formate, is added to the culture. Later in the 1930s Stephenson worked with
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467:(Jack Haldane), the Royal Society considered accepting women as Fellows.
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288:(later Society), invited her to become a researcher in his laboratory at
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300:, necessary for digestion of milk, and showed that it was inhibited by
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802:. Vol. 24. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 519–521.
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Holding Hands with Bacteria: The Life and Work of Marjory Stephenson
308:. She also worked on the consequences in metabolism of experimental
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331:, Stephenson ran hospital kitchens in France; later she became a
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Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Warwick
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Newnham Biographies – "Marjory Stephenson" (1885–1948)
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Stephenson is most widely remembered for her seminal book,
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Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
177:. In 1945, she was one of the first two women elected a
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A short history of the Society for General Microbiology
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was the first woman to be proposed as a Fellow of the
842:, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
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Strbánová, Sona (1970–1980). "Stephenson, Marjory".
173:(24 January 1885 – 12 December 1948) was a British
664:. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 113–135.
847:
549:Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society
428:, and with Arthur Trim on metabolic studies of
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479:Second World war service and post-war research
320:in 1913, but her work was interrupted by the
487:, Stephenson served on the Toxin Committee.
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896:Members of the Order of the British Empire
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546:(1949). "Marjory Stephenson. 1885–1948".
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412:. This was one of the first examples of '
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830:"People: Marjory Stephenson (1885–1948)"
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624:, The Society for General Microbiology
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876:Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge
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690:"Marjory Stephenson: A short history"
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916:Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge
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349:Cambridge Scientists' Anti-War Group
906:People from Burwell, Cambridgeshire
881:Female fellows of the Royal Society
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834:Early women biochemists 1911–1939,
799:Dictionary of Scientific Biography
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280:fulfilling, she was grateful when
237:jockey before becoming a trainer.
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503:Society for General Microbiology
194:Society for General Microbiology
757:Journal of General Microbiology
375:(DSc) degree for her research.
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16:British biochemist (1885–1948)
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911:Deaths from cancer in England
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501:, one of the founders of the
921:Fellows of the Royal Society
871:British women in World War I
730:. Springer. pp. 95–96.
382:. With Margaret Whetham and
343:(MBE). She also received an
292:. Here she investigated fat
242:Berkhamsted School for Girls
7:
212:, a village on the edge of
179:Fellow of the Royal Society
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316:esters. She was awarded a
253:Newnham College, Cambridge
100:Newnham College, Cambridge
891:British women biochemists
716:, 13 December 1918, p. 11
676:, Hertfordshire Genealogy
424:on enzyme adaptation and
361:Frederick Gowland Hopkins
345:Associate Royal Red Cross
329:British Red Cross Society
290:University College London
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142:University College London
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770:10.1099/00221287-9-2-151
726:Strbánová, Sona (2016).
599:12 February 2010 at the
443:Royal Society membership
369:Medical Research Council
333:Voluntary Aid Detachment
318:Beit Memorial Fellowship
198:Marjory Stephenson Prize
204:Childhood and education
146:University of Cambridge
69:Burwell, Cambridgeshire
562:10.1098/rsbm.1949.0013
492:Rockefeller Foundation
406:formate hydrogen lyase
208:Stephenson grew up in
620:11 April 2010 at the
426:amino acid metabolism
355:Research at Cambridge
312:and the synthesis of
751:Woods, D.D. (1953).
694:Microbiology Society
437:Bacterial Metabolism
396:lactic dehydrogenase
380:bacterial metabolism
373:Doctorate of Science
335:(VAD) commandant in
284:, co-founder of the
251:In 1903 she went to
230:Justice of the Peace
190:Bacterial Metabolism
110:Bacterial Metabolism
901:Red Cross personnel
886:British biochemists
255:. Stephenson read
840:Marjory Stephenson
517:Legacy and honours
490:After the war the
327:After joining the
261:Balfour Laboratory
181:, the other being
158:Marjory Stephenson
25:Marjory Stephenson
826:, Newnham College
809:978-0-684-10114-9
737:978-3-662-49736-4
544:Robertson, Muriel
499:Alexander Fleming
473:Kathleen Lonsdale
469:Charles Harington
390:, for extracting
234:Deputy Lieutenant
183:Kathleen Lonsdale
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856:1885 births
483:During the
422:Ernest Gale
274:Myra Curtis
850:Categories
530:References
294:metabolism
220:, between
188:She wrote
175:biochemist
61:1885-01-24
714:The Times
578:162259455
418:activator
306:galactose
232:and then
226:Cambridge
222:Newmarket
90:, England
88:Cambridge
71:, England
779:13096699
699:30 March
618:Archived
597:Archived
447:In 1902
337:Salonica
310:diabetes
304:but not
214:The Fens
410:formate
392:enzymes
302:glucose
298:lactase
210:Burwell
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124:Fields
112:(1930)
574:S2CID
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398:from
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775:PMID
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701:2024
224:and
170:ARRC
77:Died
55:Born
38:ARRC
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244:in
216:in
166:FRS
162:MBE
34:FRS
30:MBE
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