| Marthe Vogt | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 8, 1903 Berlin |
| Died | September 9, 2003 (aged 100) La Jolla, California |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Neurology |
| Known for | Neurotransmitters |
Marthe Louise Vogt (September 8, 1903 – September 9, 2003)[1][2] was a German scientist who was referred to as one of the leading neuroscientists of the twentieth century. She is mainly remembered for her important contributions to the understanding of the role of neurotransmitters in the brain.[3][4]
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Vogt was born in Berlin, the daughter of two of Germany's leading anatomists, Cécile and Oskar Vogt (French and Danish-German respectively.) Her father during his career also carried out a post-mortem examination on Lenin's brain. Marthe studied at the University of Berlin and in the 1920s earned a doctorate in Chemistry from the institution. She subsequently worked in the Institute of Pharmacology in Berlin under Paul Trendelenburg where she met Edith Bülbring and Wilhelm Feldberg and where Paul Trendelenburg's son Ullrich became her friend for life. By the early 1930s, she had established a reputation as one of Germany's leading pharmacologists, and in 1931, aged just 28, was appointed head of the chemical division at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institüt für Hirnforschung ("Brain Science").
With Nazism on the rise throughout Germany, Vogt and others decide that a move to Britain would be greatly beneficial, and in 1935 she arrived on a Rockefeller Travelling Fellowship in England. Over the next thirty years, Vogt would divide her time between Cambridge, London and Edinburgh and in 1960 she moved back to Cambridge once more to head the Pharmacology Unit at the Babraham Institute, retiring in 1968. She continued research there until 1990.
Throughout her life Marthe Vogt received numerous accolades from many scientific institutions. In the early 1950s she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1981 she was awarded the Royal Medal of the Society. She also held honorary doctorates from Edinburgh and Cambridge. Perhaps her most intriguing accolade is her election in 1977 as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Marthe Vogt later relocated to La Jolla, California in 1988 to reside with her sister, noted cancer biologist Marguerite Vogt (1913-2007). Marthe Vogt died the day after her 100th birthday in 2003.