On July 14, Sotheby’s in London will auction a Nobel Prize medal awarded to Hans Krebs in 1953 for the discovery of the Citric Acid Cycle, otherwise known as the Krebs Cycle, or the Bane of AP Chemistry Students everywhere. The medal is estimated at £250,000-350,000 (about $385,000-539,000). The sale will benefit the Sir Hans Krebs Trust, which provides grants to refugee scientists and supports the training of young scientists in biomedical sciences. Krebs himself was a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany for the UK.
In a statement provided by Sotheby’s, Lord Krebs said, “I am donating my father’s Nobel Prize Medal in order to establish a Charitable Trust in his name. My father was helped by the Academic Assistance Council when he came to Britain as a refugee scientist, so the Sir Hans Krebs Trust will provide support for today’s refugee biomedical scientists. The Trust will also support the training of doctoral students in the biomedical sciences: my father was a passionate believer in the importance of training the next generation. I believe that he would have thoroughly approved of the creation of the Trust by the sale of his Medal.”