Manfred Leslie Karnovsky, Harold T. White
Professor of Biological Chemistry, died on
January 7, 1999 at the age of eighty. Fifty classes
of graduates of the Harvard Medical School and
countless others were saddened to learn of his
death. His lectures on intermediary metabolism
formed the core of the first-year biochemistry
course. They were delivered in the King’s
English, and embellished with his special brand
of whimsical humor. Each year his lectures kept
pace with the rapid advances in biochemistry
and molecular biology, and Manfred captured the
interest of his students by including exciting new
advances without neglecting the solid essentials of
classical biochemistry.
Manfred was born in South Africa in 1918, and
obtained his early training in chemistry at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. During World
War II, he served as chemist for the Ministry of Aircraft Production while he continued his graduate studies
in chemistry at the University of Capetown. He received the Ph.D. degree in 1946.
Manfred was also well-educated in zoology, which laid the foundation for his broad range of interests in
biological problems. He studied species as diverse as starfish, sharks, rodents and bacteria. As a student, he
enjoyed collecting expeditions to Inhaca, an island off the coast of Mozambique rich in marine life, where
his love of marine biology was fostered. This was reflected in the names of a succession of his sailboats,
for instance Asterias (starfish) and Tethys (the sea-hare, a shell-less mollusk).
Following one year as a post-doctoral fellow in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Manfred
was invited to Harvard because of his expertise in the synthesis of metabolic substrates that contained
radioactive atoms at designated positions. He was expected to provide the organic chemistry arm of the
then new Biophysical Laboratory, which had been established to facilitate the use of isotopic tracers for
In tribute to their dedicated efforts to science and medicine, deceased members of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine (those at the
rank of full or emeritus professor) receive a review of their life and contributions with a complete reflection, a Memorial Minute.
Manfred Leslie Karnovsky
