Florey, Howard Walter (1898 - 1968)

Summary

Howard Florey was Professor of Pathology, University of Sheffield 1931-1935 and at the University of Oxford 1935-1962. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1945 (jointly with Alexander Fleming and Ernst Boris Chain) for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases. He was Chancellor of the Australian National University 1965-1968. Florey was educated at the Universities of Adelaide (MB, BS), Oxford (MA, BSc) and Cambridge (PhD 1927). He was created Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston in 1965.

Details

Chronology

1921

Education - Rhodes Scholar for South Australia

1925

Career position - Rockefeller Travelling Fellow in the United States

1927 - ?

Career position - Huddersfield Lecturer in Special Pathology, University of Cambridge, UK

1931 - 1935

Career position - Joseph Hunter Professor of Pathology, University of Sheffield, UK

1941 -

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1944

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt)

1945

Award - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (jointly with Alexander Fleming and Ernst Boris Chain) - for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases

1960 - 1965

Career position - First Australian President of The Royal Society, London

1962 -

Career position - Professor of Pathology and Head of the Pathology School, University of Oxford, UK

1963

Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

1965

Award - Life Peer

1965 - 1968

Career position - Chancellor, Australian National University in Canberra

Related entries

Archival resources

John Curtin School of Medical Research

• Howard Walter Florey - Records, 1945 - 1955; John Curtin School of Medical Research. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Howard Walter Florey - Records, 1905 - 1967, DeB 220-221; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Powerhouse Museum

• Royal de Rohan Barondes, 1944 - 1955, 99/30/1:3, 2002/87/1; Powerhouse Museum. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Australasian Science, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/journal.htm. Details

Articles

• Sutherland, Denise, 'Sir Howard Florey - a driven spirit', Australasian Science (1998), http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/as_florey.htm. Details

Books

• Bickel, Lennard, Rise up to life: a biography of Howard Walter Florey who gave Penicillin to the world (London: Angus and Robertson (U.K.), 1972), 314 pp. Details
• Bickel, Lennard, Florey, the Man who Made Penicillin. (South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1983). Details
• Knight, Linsay and Cheng, Christopher, Australia's Greatest Inventions and Innovations (North Sydney, N.S.W.: Random House Australia, 2012), 184 pp. Pages 18-21 (Penicillin 18-21, 23). Details
• Lax, Eric, The Mould in Dr Florey's Coat: the Remarkable True Story of the Penicillin Miracle (London: Little, Brown, 2004), 389 pp. Details
• MacFarlane, Robert Gwyn, Howard Florey, The Making of a Great Scientist (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979). Details
• Mason, Brett, Wizards of Oz: how Oliphant and Florey helped win the war and shape the modern world (Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2022), 424 pp. Details
• Williams, Trevor I., Howard Florey: Penicillin and After (London: Oxford University Press, 1984), 417 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Anon, 'Miracle mould: Howard Walter Florey' in Australia's Nobel laureates vol. III: state of our innovation nation, 2021 and beyond (One Mandate Group, 2021), pp. 32-43, https://publications.innovatia.au/view/404883545/36/. Details
• Beale, R, 'Howard Walter Florey' in Australia's Nobel Laureates - Adventures in Innovation (Sydney: ABIE Australian Business and Investment Explorer, 2004), pp. 34-43. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Florey, Howard Walter, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston (1898-1968), medical scientist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 14: 1940 - 1980 Di-Kel, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1996), pp. 188-190. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/florey-howard-walter-10206. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituaries [of Fellows]', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 102 (1) (1969), 96-97, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/246883#page/4/mode/1up. Details
• Abraham, E. P.; Chain, E.; Fletcher, C. M.; Florey, H. W.; Gardner, A. D.; Heatley, N. G.; and Jennings, M. A., 'Further observations on penicillin', Lancet, 238 (1941), 177-89. Details
• Abraham, Edward, 'Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston, 1898 - 1968', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 17 (1971), 255-302. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1971.0011. Details
• Chain, E.; Florey, H. W.; Gardner, A. D.; Heatley, N. G.; Jennings, M. A.; Orr-Ewing, J. and Sanders, A. G., 'Penicillin as a chemotherapeutic agent', Lancet, 236 (6104) (1940), 226-8. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Obituary: Howard Walter Florey: Baron of Adelaide and Marston', Australian Journal of Science, 31 (1) (1968), 37-39. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Howard Florey', Microbiology Australia, 19 (3) (1998), 37-9. Details
• Florey, Howard, 'Development of Modern Science', Australian Journal of Science, 26 (4) (1963), 99-105. Details
• Florey, Howard, 'David Rivett Memorial Lecture. The Development of Modern Science', Australian Journal of Science, 26 (1963), 99-105. Details
• Goldsworthy, Peter D.; and McFarlane, Alexander C., 'Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and the fairy tale of penicillin', Medical Journal of Australia, 176 (2002), 178-80. Details
• Harris, Henry, 'Howard Florey and the development of penicillin', Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 53 (2) (1999), 243-52. Details
• Wernert, Gregory T., 'Howard Florey: the Man behind Penicillin', Chemistry in Australia, 65 (8) (1998), 21-25. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/20520673. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q137106. Details
• Tallpoppies: Florey, Australian Institute of Political Science, 1998, http://www.tallpoppies.net.au/florey/. Details
• 'Florey, Howard (1898-1968)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-582921. Details
• 'Awarded honorary LLD, 1963', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

Resource Sections

• 'The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 'for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases'', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/. Details
• 'Sir Howard Walter Florey - Biography', in Nobel e-Museum, 1996, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/florey/biographical/. Details
• 'Howard Florey - development of the first antibiotic, penicillin', in The 1997 Australian Science Festival, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/other/asf_scientists.htm#howard. Details
• 'Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine Act 1971', in Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Home Page, 2003, http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/. Details
• Sherratt, Tim; et al, 'Howard Florey', A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, Canberra, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/nobel/florey.htm. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_f.html. Details
• Nobel Australians, Australian Academy of Science, 2025, https://www.science.org.au/education/history-of-australian-science/nobel-australians. Details
• Courtice, F. C., 'Bede Morris, 1927-1988', Historical Records of Australian Science, 8 (1) (1989), 15-36. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9890810015. Details
• Davies, Susan, 'R. v.d. R. Woolley in Australia', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (1) (1984), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9840610059. Details
• Foster, S.G.; and Varghese, Margaret M., The Making of the Australian National University 1946-96 (St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 1996), 475 pp. Details
• Heagney, Brenda, Half a century of penicillin : an Australian perspective (Sydney: Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 1991), 22 pp. Details
• Newton, J. O., 'Ernest William Titterton 1916-1990', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (2) (1992), 167-187. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920920167. Details
• Redgrave, T. G., 'Wilfred John Simmonds 1918-1990', Historical Records of Australian Science, 8 (4) (1991), 265-275. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9910840265. Details