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Rudolph Peters
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<h2 id="life">Life</h2> <p>He was born in <a href="/facts/Kensington/lLlKcGIl">Kensington</a> in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a> the son of Dr Albert E. D. R. Peters (1863–1945), a physician, and his wife, Agnes Malvina Watts (1867–1950).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>He was educated at <a href="/facts/Wellington_College,_Berkshire/wdnnGaPe">Wellington College, Berkshire</a>, then studied medicine at <a href="/facts/King%27s_College_London/6qy3Y2hY">King's College London</a> and <a href="/facts/Gonville_and_Caius_College,_Cambridge/61gbInWw">Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>In the <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a> he served in the <a href="/facts/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps/jvFJMaSz">Royal Army Medical Corps</a> as Medical Officer to the 60th Rifles. From 1917 he was attached to the chemical warfare section at <a href="/facts/Porton_Down/XVed6vLA">Porton Down</a>. After the war he returned to <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University/0la7aX9o">Cambridge University</a> lecturing in biochemistry. In 1923 he was created professor of biochemistry at <a href="/facts/Oxford_University/ExVVQL6V">Oxford University</a>. </p><p>After the <a href="/facts/Second_World_War/2efV5L1U">Second World War</a>, he researched <a href="/facts/Pyruvate/qJTgl4J9">pyruvate</a> metabolism, focussing particularly on the toxicity of <a href="/facts/Fluoroacetic_acid/hXTrgNBD">fluoroacetate</a>. The fact that fluoroacetate in itself is far less toxic than its metabolite <a href="/facts/Fluorocitric_acid/7lmTCuca">fluorocitrate</a> led him to coin the term "<a href="/facts/Lethal_synthesis/6JQMYB73">lethal synthesis</a>" which was the title of his <a href="/facts/Croonian_Lecture/zmpAfKsD">Croonian Lecture</a> of 1951.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>Peters retired from academia in 1954 to establish, at age 65, a new department of biochemistry at the Agricultural Research Council Animal Physiology Unit at <a href="/facts/Babraham_Institute/KdIhoSrS">Babraham</a>; he retired five years later.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>He was elected <a href="/facts/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society/cWs8TdC5">FRS</a> in 1935. In 1940, he received the <a href="/facts/Cameron_Prize_for_Therapeutics_of_the_University_of_Edinburgh/770jkQIx">Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh</a>. He was knighted by Queen <a href="/facts/Elizabeth_II/os6eB47B">Elizabeth II</a> in 1952 and elected an Honorary Fellow of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh/0U0vEtuK">Royal Society of Edinburgh</a> in 1957. </p><p>He died in Cambridge on 29 January 1982, and was cremated there on 4 February. </p><p>Some of Sir Rudolph's papers are held at the <a href="/facts/Bodleian_Library/wxknaMJk">Bodleian Library</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="family">Family</h2> <p>Peters married Frances Williamina Vérel at the Queen's Park Free Church, Glasgow, on 7 November 1917.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> Frances was the daughter of Francis William Vérel, a photographic chemist, and had been at school in <a href="/facts/Westgate-on-Sea/kDdRXstA">Westgate-on-Sea</a> with Peters's sister, Gwendoline.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> They had two sons: Rudolph V (1918–2013),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> and Francis Raymond (1922–2023).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.auspostalhistory.com/articles/77.shtml">"Sir Rudolph Albert Peters, Biochemist (1889–1982)"</a>. Australian Postal History & Social Philately. 4 April 2023.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Thompson, R. H. S.; Ogston, A. G. (1983). "Rudolph Albert Peters. 13 April 1889 – 29 January 1982". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 29: 494–523. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1983.0018. JSTOR 769811. <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Ogston" target="_blank">/wiki/Alexander_Ogston</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Anon (1982). "Obituary". BMJ. 284 (6315): 589–590. doi:10.1136/bmj.284.6315.589. S2CID 220197192. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2017. <a href="0-902-198-84-X" target="_blank">0-902-198-84-X</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>'PETERS, Sir Rudolph (Albert)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Anon (1982). "Obituary". BMJ. 284 (6315): 589–590. doi:10.1136/bmj.284.6315.589. S2CID 220197192. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Peters, R. A. (1952). "Croonian Lecture: Lethal Synthesis". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 139 (895): 143–170. Bibcode:1952RSPSB.139..143P. doi:10.1098/rspb.1952.0001. PMID 14911820. S2CID 84782137. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Profile: Sir Rudolph Peters". The New Scientist. 7 (180): 1070–1071. 28 April 1960. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Papers and correspondence of Sir Rudolph Albert Peters, 1889-1982". Jisc: Archive Collection. Retrieved 25 July 2020. <a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/501b3521-d19a-3edc-bc91-5da2197275bb" target="_blank">https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/501b3521-d19a-3edc-bc91-5da2197275bb</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>National records of Scotland: Statutory registers Marriages 633/B 261) <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>1911 Census <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"Cornwall, ON, Obituaries: Rudolph Peters". yourlifemoments.ca. Retrieved 25 July 2020. <a href="http://yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/Obituary.asp?oId=699622" target="_blank">http://yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/Obituary.asp?oId=699622</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Thompson, RHS. "Sir Rudolph Albert Peters b.13 April 1889 d.29 January 1982". Royal College of Physicians: Inspiring physicians. Retrieved 24 July 2020. <a href="https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/sir-rudolph-albert-peters" target="_blank">https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/sir-rudolph-albert-peters</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"FreeBMD". FreeBMD. Retrieved 25 July 2020. <a href="https://www.freebmd.org.uk/" target="_blank">https://www.freebmd.org.uk/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>