Professor Gus Born
Gustav Born (1921 – 2018)
Professor Gustav Born, known as Gus, was an eminent scientist who made important contributions to the study of platelets and haemostasis. Indeed, there isn’t a platelet scientist who hasn’t performed an aggregation experiment during the course of their research, a legacy of the simplicity and importance of the technique he developed. However, Gus’ legacy is much more than a technique. He led many developments in the field and was an inspiration to many scientists at all stages of their careers.
2021 would have seen Gus’s 100th birthday. Here we present a collection of interviews, articles and videos celebrating the life and work of Gus Born.
Gustav Born Memorial Lecture 2021
To commemorate the anniversary of Gus’ birth, Queen Mary University London, along with the Platelet Society, hosted a public lecture in his memory.
Held at the William Harvey Institute on the evening of the 17th November 2021, family, friends and colleagues of Gus gathered to hear an engaging talk from Professor Beverley Hunt (OBE FRCP FRCPath) on “The Global Understanding of the Importance of Thrombosis and Haemostasis”. The lecture was simultaneously broadcast live via the web to an international audience and is available here for you to view.
The lecture concluded with the unveiling of a portrait of Gus from his family, and which will be hung at the William Harvey Institute in his honour.
Special Review Series
Following Gus’s death in 2018, the Journal Platelets commissioned a special review series to commemorate Gus’s life and work. The articles below are taken from this series and give insights into Gus’s character, motivations and achievements from those who knew him.
Videos
The British Pharmacological Society have a series of videos, hosted on their YouTube channel, that reflect and celebrate on the life and work of Gus. Prof Clive Page and colleagues have digitized two films charting the importance of platelets and key discoveries made by Gus and fellow scientist John Vane.
The second two videos are recordings of interviews with Gus. The first recorded in 2011 by Universität Göttingen talks about his live in Gottingen and his career, whilst the second is an interview with friend and collegue Rod Flower.
The final video is Gus by being interviewed by Harry Kroto and Edward Goldwyn in 2004. This video is hosted by Vega.
Obituary
Gus’s good friend, Rod Flower, wrote a moving obituary following his death in 2018. This charts his life and work as well as recording a list of achievement and publications from this very full life.
The Obituary was published in the Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society and can be read on the Royal Societies website at
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2019.0026
