The Quest for Cortisone

Chapter 27. Stockholm

189 Chapter 27 stockholm Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. —sherLoCK hoLMes, A CASE OF IDENTITY on october 26, 1950, it was announced that edward Kendall and Philip hench, along with Tadeus reichstein, had won the nobel Prize. Three days later, on october 29, King Gustav V—who would have normally bestowed the award on the new recipients—died. At ninety-two years of age, his death was not unexpected. he was immediately succeeded by his son, fifty-eight-year-old Gustav (Vi) Adolf. The old king’s death was an unfortunate beginning to the biggest event of which Kendall or hench would ever be a part. The Kendalls’ trek to sweden for the December awards ceremony began well.The chemist and his wife were taken from rochester to Chicago aboard the private car of the vice president of the Chicago-northwestern railroad Company.1 The traveling palace, complete with big beds, maid service, and freshly squeezed orange juice, made the initial 500 miles of the trip a pleasant adventure. After reaching the east Coast, they “crossed a well-behaved Atlantic ocean on the steam ship Oslofjord to Copenhagen and oslo.” from there they took a train to stockholm. nick Kendall and his bride of thirtyfive years arrived on December 8 and checked into the Grand hotel. Philip and Mary hench also arrived in stockholm by train that day. They weren’t alone. in tow were their four children—Kahler, Mary, susan, and little John—along with Philip hench’s mother-in-law. howard Polley 190| Chapter 27 points out that “Phil took his family to stockholm and got a lot of attention at the time of the nobel Prize, because i guess it’s about the first time anybody had ever done that.” hench’s own recollections confirm the unusualness of a family entourage at this event. To our rooms came each day a small army of friendly newspaper folk who seemed to be fascinated by the fact that such a large family had journeyed so far to the nobel festival. Two reporters were especially impressed by the inclusion of my wife’s mother, and one newspaper headline read “Mother-in-Law attends nobel festival.”2 hench had harbored serious misgivings about the appropriateness of bringing his entire family. it turned out to be unfounded. The news folk and the various swedish friends we met felt that we had paid them a real compliment in bringing the whole family. soon our four children , especially 7-year-old John, and the charming, 17-year-old daughters of Dr. reichstein and the American novelist, Mr. William faulkner, became the delight and daily target of the reporters and news photographers, who understandingly became much more interested in these young people than in the older guests.3 The 1950 nobel Prize festival was an extra-special event; it was the fiftieth anniversary of the nobel Prize. All 100 living nobel laureates from the past had been invited, and about 25 of them were able to attend. As the Kendalls and the henches awoke in the Grand hotel the next morning, they discovered that the breakfast area was packed with former prizewinners— including scotsman Alexander fleming of penicillin fame, and Gerhard Domagk, the German discoverer of the first sulfa antibiotic. Mingled with them were ambassadors and diplomats from all the countries that had sent a past laureate. The American ambassador, William Butterworth, was present and accompanied by his wife. The entourage from rochester ate their swedish pancakes that morning with Mrs. Butterworth. in the afternoon a reception for the contingency was held at the nobel foundation house. Tadeus reichstein, the third member of the trio, was not there; a dense, impenetrable fog worthy of stephen King surrounded stockholm and would delay his arrival until just before the main ceremony on sunday. in his absence Drs. hench and Kendall were toasted by their hosts for their accomplishments. True to character, hench rambled on in Stockholm| 191 his response. in contrast, Kendall—according to the wife of the British ambassador—gave “the shortest speech” anyone associated with the ceremonies had ever heard. The following day, sunday, December 10, turned out to be, in Kendall’s words, “long and arduous.” This was the anniversary of Alfred nobel’s death in 1896, the day designated for the “solemn festival of the nobel foundation ” that would take place in the...