Marjory Stephenson
| Marjory Stephenson | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
24 January 1885 Burwell, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Died | 12 December 1948 (aged 63) Cambridge, England |
| Fields | Biochemistry, Microbiology |
| Institutions |
University College London University of Cambridge |
| Alma mater | Newnham College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Bacterial metabolism |
Marjory Stephenson, MBE, FRS (24 January 1885 – 12 December 1948) was a British biochemist. In 1945, she was one of the first two women (the other being Kathleen Lonsdale) elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
She wrote Bacterial Metabolism (1930), which ran to three editions and was a standard textbook for generations of microbiologists. A founder of the Society for General Microbiology, she also served as its second president. In 1953, the Society established the Marjory Stephenson Memorial Lecture (now the Marjory Stephenson Prize Lecture) in her memory. This is the Society's principal prize, awarded biennially for an outstanding contribution of current importance in microbiology.
Stephenson grew up in Burwell, a village on the edge of the Fens in Cambridgeshire, between Newmarket and Cambridge. 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 Justice of the Peace and then Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire; he was also a chairman of the County Council. He employed many local people in his cement works. Both 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 jockey before becoming a trainer.
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, the daughter of a carpenter from Bungay. (The governess later married a solicitor and named one of her daughters Marjory). Stephenson later studied at the Berkhamsted School for Girls in Hertfordshire.
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