From personal letters to medieval manuscripts, the life and times of Sir Henry Wellcome
26 July 2007
To coincide with the 71st anniversary of the death of Sir Henry Wellcome, the medical charity set up in his name – The Wellcome Trust - has launched a new web resource that sheds new light on the professional and personal life and achievements of this remarkable figure.
Now online, Wellcome's World is a new web resource that tells the story of Wellcome's life (1853-1936), drawn from over 350 items selected from the Wellcome Library's holdings. Split into five sections – personal life, businessman, man of science, philanthropist and collector – the items can be ordered up for closer examination in the Library, or the matching image can be downloaded free of charge.
From personal letters to business records, laboratory notebooks to medieval manuscripts, Wellcome's World now links the Wellcome Library's catalogues with Wellcome Images, the Trust's relaunched picture library, which contains thousands of clinical, medical and historical images.
"Sir Henry Wellcome lived a remarkable life," explains Frances Norton, Head of the Wellcome Library. "As a philanthropist, collector, businessman and a man obsessed with medicine and science, his legacy remains with us to this day. This fascinating new web resource goes some of the way towards exploring his diverse and complex background, and sheds light on his personal life, including his broken marriage to Dr Bernardo's daughter, Syrie."
Today, the Wellcome Trust is the UK's largest medical research charity. As the biggest non-government funder of biomedical research, it spends £500 million each year supporting the best scientists with the best ideas. But who is this great man behind this charity?
Born into poverty in the American Wild West, Henry Wellcome ended his days as a knight of the British Empire. During his lifetime he co-founded a multinational pharmaceutical company, the profits of which he invested in both scientific research and also in amassing an astonishing collection of artefacts relating to the history of medicine. On his death in 1936, his will established The Wellcome Trust, which today remains very much in keeping with Wellcome's wishes funding research to improve human and animal health worldwide.
Many of Henry Wellcome's collected artefacts are now on display to the public for the first time as part of Wellcome Collection, a new cultural venue on London's Euston Road, which explores the connections between life, medicine, art and history, and launched in June of this year.
Contact
Mike Findlay
Wellcome Trust Media Office
T +44 (0)20 7611 8612
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk
Notes to editors
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.
The Wellcome Trust's former headquarters, the Wellcome Building on London's Euston Road, has been redesigned by Hopkins Architects to become a new £30 million public venue. Free to all, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The building comprises three galleries, a public events space, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop, conference facilities and a members' club.