Hans Adolf Krebs (1900-1981)

Sir Hans Adolf Krebs (August 25, 1900 - November 22, 1981) was a German medical doctor and biochemist.

Birth

He was born in Hildesheim, Germany, the son of Alma; and Georg Krebs, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. Hans went to school in Hildesheim and studied medicine at the University of Göttingen from 1918-1923. He gained his Ph.D. at the University of Hamburg in 1925, then studied chemistry in Berlin for one year, where he later became an assistant of Otto Warburg at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology until 1930.

Germany to England

Because of his Jewish heritage he was barred from practicing medicine in Germany and he emigrated to England in 1933. He was invited to Cambridge, where he worked in the biochemistry department under Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861-1947). Hans became professor of biochemistry at the University of Sheffield in 1945.

Metabolism

Krebs' area of interest was intermediary metabolism. He discovered the urea cycle in 1932 and the citric acid cycle in 1937, which is still often called Krebs cycle. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953.

Death

Sir Hans was elected Honorary Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge University in 1979. Krebs died in Oxford, England in 1981.

Timeline

• 1900 Birth in Germany
• 1918 Start medical school
• 1923 Graduate from medical school
• 1925 Graduated with Ph.D. from University of Hamburg
• 1932 Discovery of Urea Cycle
• 1933 Emigration to UK
• 1937 Discovery of Citric Acid Cycle aka Krebs Cycle
• 1945 Professor at University of Sheffield
• 1953 Nobel Prize
• 1958 Knighted
• 1981 Death in UK

External links

• Noble Prize: Krebs