Willesden Cemetery talk rewrites history of scientist Rosalind Franklin

150 people dialled into our Zoom talk on the 26 July 2020 celebrating the centenary of the birth of influential scientist, Rosalind Franklin.

The event presented a completely different legacy for Rosalind Franklin, showing her as a pioneer for her work on viruses – many of her papers are directly influencing the research that is going on today in the global fight against COVID-19.

Guest speakers, Professor James Naismith, a chemist and Director of the new Rosalind Franklin Institute at Oxford University, and Dr Patricia Fara, a historian of science at Cambridge University, as well as chair Hester Abrams of Willesden Jewish Cemetery, were keen to dispel previously held views about Rosalind Franklin, whose role in the discovery of the structure of DNA was caricaturised by James Watson in his book ‘The Double Helix’.

They explored the impact of Rosalind Franklin’s work on viruses, discussing the fact that although she became known as the co-discoverer of DNA, the majority of Rosalind Franklin’s work was actually on viruses. 

Dr Fara said: “Rosalind Franklin deserves to be recognised for what she achieved, not what was denied her,” to which Professor Naismith added: “100 years after her birth, it would be good if we remembered that she was a pioneering, brilliant scientist for her work on viruses.”

Rosalind Franklin died in 1958, and is buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery.

To read more about Rosalind Franklin click here.