Ernst Boris Chain, 19 June 1906 - 12 August 1979

Abstract Ernst Boris Chain was one of the highly gifted scientists who found refuge in Britain from Hitler’s regime in Germany. His great contribution to science and medicine lay in his role in the initiation of the work in Oxford which led to the demonstration of the therapeutic power of penicillin. For this he shared a Nobel Prize with Howard Florey and Alexander Fleming. He was a cosmopolitan and controversial figure.