Max Ferdinand Perutz was an Austrian-born British molecular biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962, jointly with English biochemist John Kendrew, for their investigation on the structure of haemoglobin.
Max Perutz was born on 19th May 1914, in Vienna, Austria, where his father owned a textile factory. He took his Ph.D from Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in 1936.
Max Perutz applied the most powerful device X-ray crystallography to analyze the structure of haemoglobin. During the 1930s, this method was used to map increasingly large and complex molecules. He began to map the structure of haemoglobin, for example – the protein that allows blood to transport energy-giving oxygen to the body’s muscles.
He received several awards including the Royal Medal in 1971, and the Copley Medal in 1979 from the Royal Society’ of London.
On 6th February, 2002, he succumbed to cancer.