Leslie Baruch Brent (5 July 1925 – 21 December 2019) was a British immunologist and

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

. He was

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, from 1990. An immunologist, he was the co-discoverer, with

Peter Medawar Sir Peter Brian Medawar (; 28 February 1915 – 2 October 1987) was a Brazilian-British biologist and writer, whose works on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance have been fundamental to the medical practice of tissu ...

and Rupert Billingham, of acquired immunological tolerance. They injected cells from donor mice into fetal mice, and later neonatal mice, which would as adults receive donor skin grafts without rejection. Brent was born Lothar Baruch, in Köslin, Germany (now

Koszalin Koszalin (pronounced ; csb, Kòszalëno; formerly german: Köslin, ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-sta ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

), to German Jewish parents, Charlotte (Rosenthal) and Arthur Baruch. To avoid persecution in the largely non-Jewish Köslin, his family placed him in the Jewish Orphanage Berlin-Pankow in Berlin in 1936. In 1938, at age 13, to escape the rising

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

of the Sturmabteilung (Storm Troopers) and teachers, Brent was sent to England on the first of the

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

s and became a pupil at Anna Essinger's

Bunce Court School The Bunce Court School was an independent, private boarding school in the village of Otterden, in Kent, England. It was founded in 1933 by Anna Essinger, who had previously founded a boarding school, Landschulheim Herrlingen in the south of Germa ...

. His parents and older sister stayed behind in Germany. Because his status as a German national would have made him liable to execution in the event of capture, he was advised to change his name. After the war, he found out that his parents were sent to Riga, Latvia, and executed. There are three stolpersteine for his parents and sister in Berlin. After the war, he became a British citizen and enrolled at

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

where he was president of the Guild of Undergraduates in 1950–1951. He received his Ph.D. at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. As a secular Jew who escaped

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, Brent was highly critical of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. In 2012 he was interviewed and filmed for the documentary The Essential Link: The Story of Wilfrid Israel by Yonatan Nir, in which he talked about his

experience. He was a member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laur ...

and an honorary member of the

British Society for Immunology The British Society for Immunology, or BSI, is a UK-based organisation of British immunologists but accepts members from all countries. It was founded in November 1956 by John H. Humphrey, Robin Coombs, Bob White, and Avrion Mitchison and is on ...

. Brent died in December 2019, at the age of 94. He was posthumously appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to Holocaust education.

Career

* Laboratory technician, 1941–43 * Army service, 1943–47, Captain * Lecturer, Department of

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

, UCL, 1954–1962 * Rockefeller Research Fellow,

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, 1956–57 * Research scientist,

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR b ...

, 1962–65 * Professor of Zoology,

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, 1965–69 * Professor of Immunology, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, 1969–1990

Other positions

* European Editor, Transplantation, 1963–68 * Chairman: Wessex Branch, Institute of Biology, 1966–68 * General Secretary, British Transplantation Society, 1971–75 * President, The Transplantation Society, 1976–78

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brent, Leslie 1925 births 2019 deaths Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Kindertransport refugees Jewish scientists British zoologists Alumni of University College London People educated at Bunce Court School Academics of the University of Southampton People from Koszalin People from the Province of Pomerania Jewish agnostics Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Alumni of the University of Birmingham British people of German-Jewish descent Members of the Order of the British Empire