| Authorised form of name | Kennard; Olga; crystallographer |
| Other forms of name | Burgen, Lady |
| Other forms of surname | Weisz |
| Burgen |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Budapest, Hungary, Europe |
| Date of birth | 23 March 1924 |
| Place of death | Cambridge, England |
| Date of death | 2 March 2023 |
| Occupation | crystallographer |
| Research field | Crystallography |
| Activity | Education:
Jewish gymnasium in Budapest, Hungary; grammar schools in Hove and Evesham; Newnham College, Cambridge 1942
Career:
Fled to England with her family (1938); Assistant to Max Perutz in the Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory under Lawrence Bragg (1944); moved to London, working at the Medical Research Council, RC Vision Research Unit (1948-1951); moved to the Chemistry Department, Cambridge University (1962); set up the University's Crystallography Unit; established a crystallographic lab at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London; was part of a small group of crystallographers who set up the European Crystallographic Committee (now the European Crystallographic Association), becoming its president (1975–81); founded the Cambridge Structural Database and became its first director (1965-1997) of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre; visiting professor at the University of London (1988-1990).
Honours:
OBE 1988
Memberships:
Academia Europaea 1993
University of Cambridge Doctor of Law honoris causa 2003
Trustee of the British Museum 2004-2012
Awards/Medals:
Gmelin-Beilstein Memorial Medal of the German Chemical Society 2007
Ewald Prize of the International Union of Crystallography 2020
Gregori Aminoff Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2023 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 19/03/1987 |
| Age at election | 62 |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1995-1997
Investment Committee 1996 |
| Relationships | eParents: Joir and Katerina Weisz, merchant banker and antique dealer.
Siblings: Judith and George.
Spouse: 1) (m. 1948) Dr David Kennard (divorced 1961); 2) Sir Arnold Burgen (m. 1993)
Children: Susie Kelpie and Julia Pyper. |
| PublishedWorks | RCN R71811
RCN R83214
RCN R71854 |
| OtherInfo | Expert crystallographer who used X-ray diffraction to investigate organic and biological molecules. In particular, her work extended our understanding of alternative structures of DNA. Olga was dedicated to the advancement of chemistry and crystallography for the public benefit. |
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| Source | The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Dr Olga Kennard OBE FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/olga-kennard-11735/; last accessed: 05/03/2025]
The Jewish Chronicle, Obituary: Dr Olga Kennard, OBE, May 4, 2023, Gloria Tessler, [URL: https://www.thejc.com/news/obituary-dr-olga-kennard-obe-s8el3dc3; last accessed: 05/03/2025]
University of Cambridge, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, Dr Olga Kennard OBE FRS, 1924-2023, Monday, March 6, 2023, [URL: https://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/news/dr-olga-kennard-obe-frs-1924-2023; last accessed: 05/03/2025]
CCDC, Celebrating Dr Olga Kennard OBE FRS, Founder of the Cambridge Structural Database, 1924 – 2023, Obituary, [URL: https://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/discover/news/celebrating-dr-olga-kennard-1924-2023/; last accessed: 05/03/2025] |
| Code | NA4438 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| IM/002509 | Kennard, Olga | circa 1977 |
| EC/1987/18 | Kennard, Olga: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1981 |
| AP/83/17 | Supporting data, regarding 'The crystal and molecular structure of adenosine triphosphate' by Olga Kennard, Neil W Isaacs, W D S Motherwell, J C Coppola, D L Wampler, A C Larson and D G Watson | [1971] |