Sir Martin Onslow Forster, FRS (8 November 1872 – 24 May 1945) was a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and a director of the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

Bangalore, India Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Forster was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. One of four children of Martin Forster, a bank clerk and his wife Ann Hope Limby, he schooled at Dane Hill House (or Boulden's),

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

and in 1888 went to Finsbury Technical College to pursue his interest in chemistry. Further studies and a certificate were achieved in industry. He undertook research under

Raphael Meldola Raphael Meldola FRS (19 July 1849 – 16 November 1915) was a British chemist and entomologist. He was Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of London, 1912–15. Life Born in Islington, London, he was descended from Raphael Me ...

and later with

Emil Fischer Hermann Emil Louis Fischer (; 9 October 1852 – 15 July 1919) was a German chemist and List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry, 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He discovered the Fischer esterification. He also developed the Fisch ...

at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1892. He then returned to England and worked under W. A. Tilden at Mason College, Birmingham followed by research under

H. E. Armstrong Henry Edward Armstrong FRS FRSE (Hon) (6 May 1848 – 13 July 1937) was a British chemist. Although Armstrong was active in many areas of scientific research, such as the chemistry of naphthalene derivatives, he is remembered today largely for h ...

at the Central Technical College, South Kensington. Here he received a fellowship from Salters' Company and studied the chemistry of camphor. In 1895 he was offered a post of demonstrator in chemistry at the Royal College of Science where his former advisor Tilden had moved. He received a Granville scholarship and joined the University of London in 1899 and became an assistant professor of chemistry in 1902. Forster retired in 1913 with an intention to join politics but returned to research in the chemical industry as a consultant for the dye industry in 1914. In 1915 he headed the technical committee for British Dyes Limited and became its director in 1916. He resigned from the company following troubles and joined the Salters' Institute of Industrial Chemistry which allowed him to conduct experiments at the Davy-Faraday Laboratories. Forster was an impressive speaker but his leadership was considered poor. He was considered to be aloof, having an air of superiority and was unpopular in Britain. However, his career in India was more successful. On the recommendation of Sir W.J. Pope, he became a director of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. His administration earned him respect among the staff and students. Although retired in 1927 with a knighthood bestowed on him, he stayed on till 1933. He then settled in Mysore.J. L. Simonsen, rev. K. D. Watson (2004) Forster, Sir Martin Onslow in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Forster was married twice, first to Madeleine Nichols, daughter of an American chemist in 1907 and they divorced in 1916. In 1925 he married Elena Josefina. He had no children and died in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, India.

References

External links

Biographical material
* John Lionel Simonsen

In: ''Nature.'' 156, 7. July 1945, S. 13–14.
Martin Onslow Forster
at insaindia.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Martin Onslow 1872 births 1945 deaths Scientists from London British chemists Alumni of the University of London Directors of the Indian Institute of Science Fellows of the Royal Society British people in colonial India Scientists from British India