Howard Walter Florey




Howard Walter Florey was born on 24 September 1898 in Adelaide. Howard graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery (M.B. B.S.) in 1921, after which he sailed to England as a Rhodes Scholar.[1] At the University of Oxford Howard was awarded a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 1924.
On 19 October 1926, Howard married fellow University of Adelaide graduate, Mary Ethel Hayter Reed.
After Oxford, Howard transferred to the University of Cambridge where he studied for his PhD and lectured in pathology from 1927.[2]
In 1931, Howard was appointed professor of pathology at the University of Sheffield. Four years later he returned to Oxford as professor of pathology and where he undertook his most well-known work, the development of penicillin. In 1944 Howard was knighted for his contribution to medicine, and in 1945 he was awarded a joint Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine, alongside Ernst Chain and Alexander Fleming.[3]
A peerage was bestowed on Howard in 1965, making him Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston.[4]
Lord Howard Walter Florey died on 21 February 1968 at Oxford.[5]
[1] Abraham, EP 1971, Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston, 1898-1968, Royal Society, London.
[2] Abraham, EP 1971, Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston, 1898-1968, Royal Society, London.
[3] Lax, E 2004, The mould in Dr. Florey’s coat: the story of the penicillin miracle, H. Holt, New York.
[4] The Canberra Times 1968, ‘Obituary: Lord Florey of Adelaide’, The Canberra Times, 23 February, p.2, viewed 14 September 2022 <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131667234>
[5] The Canberra Times 1968, ‘Obituary: Lord Florey of Adelaide’, The Canberra Times, 23 February, p.2, viewed 14 September 2022 <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131667234>



