Carl Ferdinand Cori was born on December 5, 1896, inPrague,Austria-Hungary (now theCzech Republic).[9][10] Carl was the son ofCarl Isidor Cori (1865,Brüx – 1954, Vienna), a zoologist, and Maria Cori (née Lippich; 1870, Graz – 1922, Prague), a daughter of the Italian-Bohemian/Austrian/Slovenian /Hungarian physicianFerdinand Lippich [de;cs] (1838, Padua – 1913, Prague).[11][12]
The Cori family came from thePapal State (later theRoman Republic, today'sCentral Italy) to theroyal Bohemian crownland, (Monarchical Austria at the end of the 17th century). Carl Ferdinand's grandfather Eduard Cori (1812–1889)[13] was an administrative officer and beekeeper in Brüx, and his grandmother was Rosina Trinks (?–1909).[14] Carl Ferdinand's younger sister Margarete Cori (born 1905) was a lecturer in Prague and the wife of the Bohemian geneticistFelix Mainx (1900, Prague – 1983, Vienna).[15]
He grew up inTrieste, where his father Carl Isidor was the director of the Marine Biological Station. In late 1914 the Cori family moved toPrague and Carl entered the medical school ofCharles University in Prague. While studying there he met his future wifeGerty Theresa Radnitz. He was drafted into theAustro-Hungarian Army and served in the ski corps, and later was transferred to the sanitary corps, for which he set up a laboratory in Trieste. At the end of the war Carl completed his studies, graduating with Gerty in 1920. Carl and Gerty married that year and worked together in clinics in Vienna. Their only child, Tom, married Anne, a daughter of theAmerican constitutional lawyer and anti-feministPhyllis Schlafly.[16]
Carl was invited toGraz to work withOtto Loewi to study the effect of thevagus nerve on theheart (Loewi would receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936 for this work). While Carl was in Graz, Gerty remained in Vienna. A year later Carl was offered a position at the State Institute for the Study of Malignant Diseases (nowRoswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center) inBuffalo, New York, and the Coris moved to Buffalo. In 1928, they becamenaturalized citizens of the United States.
While at the Institute the Coris' research focused oncarbohydrate metabolism, leading to the definition of theCori cycle in 1929. In 1931, Carl accepted a position at theWashington University School of Medicine inSt. Louis, Missouri. Carl joined as professor of pharmacology and in 1942 was made professor of biochemistry. In St. Louis, the Coris continued their research on glycogen and glucose and began to describeglycogenolysis, identifying and synthesizing the important enzymeglycogen phosphorylase. For these discoveries, they received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947, making them thethird ever married couple to win the Nobel Prize.
Gerty died in 1957 and Carl married Anne Fitzgerald-Jones (1909-2006) in 1960. He stayed on at Washington University until 1966, when he retired as chair of the biochemistry department. He was appointed visiting professor of Biological Chemistry atHarvard University while maintaining a laboratory space at theMassachusetts General Hospital, where he pursued research in genetics. From 1968 to 1983, he collaborated with noted geneticistSalomé Glüecksohn-Waelsch of theAlbert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, until the 1980s when illness prevented him from continuing.[17] In 1976, Carl received the Laurea honoris causa in Medicine from theUniversity of Trieste.Carl shares a star with Gerty on theSt. Louis Walk of Fame.[18]
^Raju, T. N. (1999). "The Nobel Chronicles. 1947: Carl Ferdinand Cori (1896-1984); Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori (1896-1957); and Bernardo Alberto Houssay (1887-1971)".Lancet.353 (9158): 1108.doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)76476-x.PMID10199387.S2CID54345835.
^Cohn, M. (1992). "Carl Ferdinand Cori: December 5, 1896-October 19, 1984".Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences.61:79–109.PMID11616228.
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