Winford Lee Lewis
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Winford Lee Lewis (May 29, 1878 – January 20, 1943) was a US soldier and chemist best known for his rediscovery of the chemical warfare agent
lewisite Lewisite (L) (A-243) is an organoarsenic compound. It was once manufactured in the U.S., Japan, Germany and the Soviet Union for use as a Chemical warfare, chemical weapon, acting as a vesicant (blister agent) and lung irritant. Although the substa ...
in 1917. He was born in Gridley, California and died in his home in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
in 1943 following a fall.


Biography

Winford Lee Lewis was born at home to George M Lewis and Sarah A Lewis on May 29, 1878, in Gridley, California. He was the youngest of seven children: he had six brothers and one sister. In 1908 he and his wife Myrlilla C Lewis had a daughter Miriam Lewis. He attended
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and graduated in 1902. In 1909, he graduated with a degree in chemistry from the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. He became a chemistry professor at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
until the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. During the war, he served in the United States
Chemical Warfare Service The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that until ...
. It was during his service with the Chemical Warfare Service that he rediscovered
Lewisite Lewisite (L) (A-243) is an organoarsenic compound. It was once manufactured in the U.S., Japan, Germany and the Soviet Union for use as a Chemical warfare, chemical weapon, acting as a vesicant (blister agent) and lung irritant. Although the substa ...
and assisted in its weaponization and mass production. After the war, Lewis gave several high profile speeches in the defense of the Chemical Warfare Service and the use of chemical weapons in warfare.


Publications

* On the action of Fehling's solution on malt sugar (1909) * Prices of drugs and pharmaceuticals (1919) * Meat through the microscope: applications of chemistry and the biological sciences to some problems of the meat packing industry (1940)


Patents

*


See also

* United States chemical weapons program


References

1878 births 1943 deaths People from Gridley, California {{US-chemist-stub