Cornelius O'Sullivan, FRS (20 December 1841 – 8 January 1907) was an Irish brewer's chemist. He was born the son of merchant James O'Sullivan of

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...

and was educated locally, before winning a scholarship to study chemistry at the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

, London. After completing the three-year course he joined the

Royal College of Chemistry The Royal College of Chemistry: the laboratories. Lithograph The Royal College of Chemistry (RCC) was a college originally based on Oxford Street in central London, England. It operated between 1845 and 1872. The original building was designed ...

as a student assistant to Professor

August Wilhelm von Hofmann August Wilhelm von Hofmann (8 April 18185 May 1892) was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the g ...

. When Hofman returned to Germany in 1865 to become Professor of Chemistry in Berlin he took O'Sullivan with him as his assistant. The following year Hofman's influence had secured O'Sullivan the post of assistant brewer and chemist to Messrs. Bass & Co. at

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

, Staffordshire, a major centre for English brewing. At Bass he applied his chemical knowledge and aptitude for original research to the scientific and practical issues of brewing and ultimately became head of the scientific and analytical staff of the company, a post he held for the rest of his career. His researches were communicated via a series of papers to the Chemical Society. They included ''On the Transformation Products of Starch'' (1872 and 1879); ''On Maltose'' (1876); ''On the Action of Malt Extract on Starch'' (1876); ''Presence of Raffinose in Barley'' (1886); ''Researches on the Gums of the Arabin Group'' (1884 and 1891); ''Invertase: a Contribution to the History of an Enzyme'' (with F. W. Tompson, 1890) and ''The Identity of Dextrose from Different Sources, with Special Reference to the Cupric Oxide Reducing Power'' (with A. L. Stern, 1896). He was elected a fellow of the

Chemical Society The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

in 1876, serving on the council from 1882 to 1885, and was awarded the Society's

Longstaff Medal The Longstaff Prize is given to a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry who has done the most to advance the science of chemistry. First awarded in 1881, it was originally conferred by the Chemical Society and known as the Longstaff Medal. Winne ...

in 1884 for his researches on the chemistry of the carbohydrates. In 1885 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

, his nomination citation describing him as ''Distinguished as a chemist, especially for his researches on the Carbohydrates, which have thrown entirely new light on the constitution of this class of bodies and which are therefore of high importance in connexion with the chemistry of vital processes''. He was an original member of the

Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim ...

, the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

and the Institute of Brewing and served on the council of each. He died at home in Burton-on-Trent in 1907 and was buried near Bandon. He had married in 1871 Edithe, the daughter of Joseph Nadin of Barrow Hall, near Derby, and had three sons (one of whom died in early youth) and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Cornelius 1841 births 1907 deaths People from County Cork Irish chemists Fellows of the Royal Society