Charlotte Auerbach
| Charlotte Auerbach | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
14 May 1899 Krefeld, Germany |
| Died | 17 March 1994 (aged 94) |
| Residence | Scotland |
| Citizenship | Germany, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | genetics |
| Known for | mutagenesis |
| Notable awards | Darwin Medal 1976 |
Charlotte "Lotte" Auerbach FRS FRSE (14 May 1899 – 17 March 1994) was a German-Jewish zoologist and geneticist who contributed to founding the science of mutagenesis. She became well known after 1942 when she discovered with A. J. Clark and J. M. Robson that mustard gas could cause mutations in fruit flies. She wrote 91 scientific papers, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the Royal Society of London.
In 1976, she was awarded the Royal Society's Darwin Medal. Aside her scientific contributions and love of science, she was remarkable in many other ways, including her wide interests, independence, modesty, and transparent honesty.
Charlotte Auerbach was born in Krefeld in Germany, the daughter of Selma Sachs and Friedrich Auerbach . She may have been influenced by the scientists in her family: her father Friedrich Auerbach (1870-1925) was a chemist, her uncle a physicist, and her grandfather, the anatomist Leopold Auerbach.
She studied biology and chemistry at the universities of Würzburg, Freiburg and Berlin. She was taught and inspired by Karl Haider and Max Hartmann in Berlin, and later in Würzburg by Hans Kniep. After very good examinations in biology, chemistry, and physics, she initially decided to become a secondary-school teacher of science, passing the exams for that, with distinction in 1924.
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