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 scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

and a director of the

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

Bangalore, India Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. Forster was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ex ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. 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 town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significant m ...

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 M ...

and later with

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

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. The University of Würzburg is one o ...

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 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 part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, 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