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Herbert ‘Freddie’ Gutfreund

Freddie Gutfreund was born in Vienna on 21st October 1921. In 1938, aged 17, he arrived in England as a refugee, initially to work in agriculture, but quickly moved into a scientific career. In the late 1940s he moved to Cambridge and began to socialise and be influenced by, amongst others, the founders of molecular biology (and the LMB): Max Perutz, Fred Sanger, Francis Crick, James Watson and Hugh Huxley. He later moved to the Medical School in Bristol and established a Molecular Enzymology Laboratory in the University’s Department of Biochemistry. Freddie was an honorary alumnus of the LMB. He died on 21st March 2021, aged 99.

Further references:

Gutfreund. Memories of a Senior Scientist: I was lucky, I was there at the right time. CMLS, Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 61: 1–3, 1420-682X/04/010001-03. DOI 10.1007/s00018-003-3378-z. (2004)

Gutfreund. Recollections. How I Became a Biochemist: An Honorary One! IUBMB Life, 59(11): 734 – 737 (2007)

Professor H Gutfreund FRS, 1921 – 2021. Appreciation by Professor Stephen Halford, FRS (2021)