Description
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Carl F. and Gerty T. Cori Photographs, Certificates, and Artifacts Collection
Date(s)
- 1946-1947, 2017 (Creation)
Extent
1.1 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Carl Ferdinand Cori was born in 1896 in Prague (then located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the son of a noted Austrian biologist. Cori began medical study in his native city, but this was interrupted by military service in World War I, during which he served as a medic on the Italian front. While a student again after the war, he became engaged to a classmate, Gerty Theresa Radnitz. The two were married in Vienna in 1920 shortly after receiving their medical degrees. Both chose research careers, but it proved very difficult to find suitable positions in war-impoverished Austria. In 1922, the Coris emigrated to the United States, where Carl took a position in Buffalo, at the State Institute for the Study of Malignant Disease (now Roswell Park Memorial Institute).
In 1931, Cori was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He would later switch departments and become professor and chair of the department of Biochemistry in 1946. Working with his wife Gerty, the Coris most notable contribution to science was their series of discoveries that elucidated the pathway of glycogen breakdown in animal cells and the enzymic basis of its regulation, now known as the Cori Cycle.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Gerty Cori, the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was born in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1896. Educated by tutors and in private schools, Gerty decided at the age of 16 to study medicine. She entered the Realgymnasium at Tetschen, from which she graduated in 1914, and then proceeded to the Medical School of the German University of Prague. While in medical school, Gerty met Carl Ferdinand Cori, a fellow student who shared both her loves of skiing and mountain climbing and her interest in laboratory research. In 1920 the two published the results of their first research collaboration, received their medical degrees, and married each other.
Gerty Cori's first research position was as an assistant in the Karolinen Children's Hospital in Vienna. In 1922 Carl Cori emigrated to the United States to join the staff of the New York State Institute for the Study of Malignant Diseases in Buffalo, New York. Gerty Cori emigrated a few months later, starting as an assistant pathologist at the Institute and later rising to assistant biochemist. In 1928 the Coris became naturalized U.S. citizens.
In 1931 Carl Cori accepted the position of chairman of the Department of Pharmacology of the Washington University School of Medicine. The University rules at the time prohibited faculty appointment of two members of the same family, so Gerty Cori was hired as a research fellow in Pharmacology. In the early 1940s the Coris moved to the department of Biological Chemistry. Gerty Cori was made an associate professor of Research Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology in 1943. She was promoted to the rank of professor of Biological Chemistry in July 1947.
In addition to the Nobel Prize in 1947, Gerty Cori was the recipient of many honors and awards. With her husband she was awarded the Midwest Award of the American Chemical Society in 1946. Gerty Cori received the St. Louis Award in 1948, the Squibb Award in endocrinology in 1947, and Garvan medal of the American Chemical Society for women in chemistry in 1948, and the sugar research prize of the National Academy of Sciences in 1950. In 1948 Cori was recognized as a Woman of Achievement in science by the Women's National Press Club. In addition, President Truman appointed Gerty Cori to two terms as a member of the board of the National Science Foundation. Honorary degrees were awarded to Cori by Yale University, Boston University, Smith College, Columbia University, and the University of Rochester. The American Chemical Society designated the research of Gerty and Carl Cori on the metabolism of carbohydrates at The Washington University School of Medicine a National Historic Chemical Landmark on September 21, 2004.
In 1947 Gerty Cori began displaying the symptoms of myelofibrosis, a rare blood disease that affects the bone marrow. She fought the disease for 10 years, refusing to give up her research until the last few months of her life. Cori died on October 26, 1957.
Scope and content
This collection consists of 20 photographs, 2 buttons, and 3 proclamations highlighting the scientific achievements of Carl F. and Gerty T. Cori. The photographs primarily depict the Coris in laboratory settings or receiving honors and awards. The buttons were created to commemorate Gerty T. Cori's life and scientific achievements, and the proclamations are from the City of Glendale, MO; the City of St. Louis, MO; and the State of Missouri marking October 23rd as Gerty and Carl Cori day.
System of arrangement
Conditions governing access
The collection is open and accessible for research.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Users of the collection should read and abide by the Rights and Permissions guidelines at the Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives.
Users of the collection who wish to cite items from this collection, in whole or in part, in any form of publication must request, sign, and return a Statement of Use form to the Archives.
For detailed information regarding use of this collection, contact the Archives and Rare Book Department of the Becker Library (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).
Preferred Citation:
Item description, Reference Code, Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives, Washington University in St. Louis.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Rules or conventions
"Describing Archives: A Content Standard, Second Edition (DACS), 2013."
Sources used
Archivist's note
© Copyright 2019 Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives. All rights reserved.
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Cori, Carl F. (Subject)
- Cori, Gerty T. (Subject)
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Washington University School of Medicine (Subject)