Gloucestershire County Council welcomed Peter and Robin Sanger, malady son’s of double Nobel Prize winner Frederick Sanger, pills to see the commemorative plaque at Shire Hall erected in his honour.
Born at Rendcomb on 13th August 1918, order Frederick Sanger was a leading figure in the field of science and his work is recognised to have prevented many people with diabetes dying at a young age as he mapped insulin, a complex protein, over 15 years.
Frederick Sanger is one of only four people to have won the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to have won it twice in chemistry.
He received it first in 1958 for determining the sequences of amino acids in proteins, and again shared the award in 1980 with two others for contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids.
Following his death on 19th November 2013, aged 95 in Cambridgeshire, it was decided in a Gloucestershire County Council meeting in November 2014 that a plaque would be erected in his memory on the staircase leading to the council chamber.
Cllr Shaun Parsons proposed the motion, which was seconded by Cllr Nigel Moor and received the unanimous support of members.
The plaque reads:
A great Gloucestershire achiever
Dr Frederick Sanger, OM 1918 – 2013
‘Father’ of Genomics
Twice a winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry
It was viewed by Peter and Robin Sanger, as well as their wives, during a special visit to the city to bury their father’s ashes.
In addition, the hamlet of Syde has commemorated Frederick Sanger with a bench for local people, and a special service was held.
Robin Sanger, son of Frederick said: “My siblings and I were delighted that Gloucestershire should honour our father Frederick Sanger as a Gloucestershire achiever, by placing a plaque to him in Shire Hall alongside such famous people as Gustav Holst and Edward Jenner.”
“Father has been honoured by his school Byanston in Dorset. They named a science block after him. His college St John’s in Cambridge, honoured him with a fellowship, The village of Syde in Gloucestershire where he grew up and was married, has recorded his memory with a bench in the centre of the village. His country, through Her Majesty the Queen honoured him by awarding him a CBE and the Order of Merit and by making him a Companion of Honour. The scientific community have recorded his achievements worldwide with two Nobel prizes and in England with the Royal Society’s “Royal Medal”. How nice it was therefore that the county of his birth should record his achievements as you have done.
“So on behalf of my father Frederick, my brother Peter, sister Sally and myself may I say thank you through Cllr Shaun Parsons to the county of Gloucestershire.”
Cllr Shaun Parsons said: “It has been a privilege to welcome Peter and Robin to Shire Hall for them to see the plaque erected to honour their inspiring father Frederick.”
“It is important that the contribution Dr Sanger made towards the field of science is recognised and I hope that any budding scientists in Gloucestershire will be inspired by his hard work.”