John Jacob Abel, 1857 - 1938

By a sad coincidence, the official notification to Professor Abel of his election to the Foreign Membership of the Royal Society was delivered on the day of his death, 26 May 1938. It is a loss to the Society, that one who was justly held in such high regard by workers in Pharmacology and the neighbouring fields of medical science, in his own country and widely beyond it, should thus never have been effectively of the distinguished company of our Foreign Members. It is known, however, through his friends, that the news of his election had reached him, and had given him pleasure, during his last, brief illness. Abel was born on 19 May 1857 on a farm near Cleveland, Ohio, into a family which came originally from the Germ an Rhineland. There is nothing recorded of his ancestors to suggest an inheritance of qualities making for eminence in science. It seems probable that his university training was won largely by his own determination and enterprise ; for it is on record that he interrupted his college course; for three years, during which he acted as head of a high school in Indiana and taught a wide range of subjects—Latin and mathematics, as well as physics and chemistry. He ultimately graduated as Ph.B. at the University of Michigan in 1883. In the same year he married Miss Mary Hinman, whom he had met as a fellow school-teacher. Mrs Abel was his devoted helper and comrade for the rest of their active lives, winning the warm regard of the many whom Abel taught and inspired, and dying a few months before him.