As today’s post I would like to share some of my favourite images of the 3 Glasgow geneticists, whose papers are presently being digitised having been selected for inclusion in the Wellcome Digital Library’s Modern Genetics and its Foundations.
Guido Pellegrino Arrigo Pontecorvo (1907-1999)
Ref: GB 0248 UGC 198/10/1/1/17
Pontecorvo (second on right facing the camera) having a drink with friends and colleagues, including Ted Forbes, Bob Pritchard and Etta Käfer, during a Department of Genetics outing to Loch Lomond, 29 June 1964. I love how this image captures a moment of relaxation, and underscores Bernie Cohen’s statement in his obituary of Pontecorvo that ‘he was anything but pompous.’ When he was promoted to the newly created Chair of Genetics at the University of Glasgow in 1955, Cohen recalled: ‘he circulated a note saying that henceforth the head of department should be known as “Ponte” – meaning of course no change.’
James Harrison Renwick (1926-1994)
Ref: GB 0248 UGC 198/10/1/1/15
Our one and only image of Jim Renwick (seated front right), taken in 1961 and found in the Papers of Guido Pontecorvo. Ponte can be seen standing on the right behind Jim. Also featured are Jim’s first wife Lena, Obaid Siddiqui, Bernard Cohen, Cecily Martin-Smith, Jennifer Dee and Lorna Lilly. I chose this picture for two reasons: firstly it is the only photograph from the period of Jim’s time at Glasgow that I have ever seen, and secondly the wallpaper.
Malcolm Andrew Ferguson-Smith (1931-)
Image source: The Ferguson-Smith family.
Malcolm Ferguson-Smith (centre with lab coat and hard hat) at the topping out ceremony for the Duncan Guthrie Institute of Medical Genetics, 1978. This photograph not only captures the period unmistakably with the hair and dress styles, but also the place – this couldn’t be anywhere but Glasgow in the late 1970s with the Govan shipyard as a back drop.
Categories: Archive Services (GUAS)
Tags: archive services, Bernard Cohen, Bob Pritchard, Department of Genetics, Duncan Guthrie Institute, Etta Käfer, genetics, Glasgow Modern Genetics Wellcome Digital Library Project, GUAS, Guido Pontecorvo, James (Jim) Harrison Renwick, Malcolm Ferguson-Smith, medical genetics, Modern Genetics and its Foundations, Obaid Siddiqui, Photographic Unit's Digitisation Suite, photography, Ponte, Professor of Genetics, Ted Forbes, topping out ceremony, University of Glasgow, UofGLibrary, WDL, Wellcome Digital Library
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Great photos. They show them as very human people.