Search results
Lionel Sharples Penrose, FRS (11 June 1898 – 12 May 1972) was an English psychiatrist, medical geneticist, paediatrician, mathematician and chess theorist, who carried out pioneering work on the genetics of intellectual disability.
Apr 19, 2024 · Lionel Sharples Penrose was the third Galton Chair at UCL from 1944 until his retirement in 1965, a pioneer in the study of mental illness and a passionate opponent of eugenics.
May 18, 2024 · Perhaps more surprising was the distinction of its eminent author: Lionel Penrose, for many years Galton Professor at University College London (UCL) in London, UK. But what did fingerprints, palmistry, and hands have to do with his mathematical, genetic, and psychiatric expertise?
- Peer-Reviewed Research Into Penrose
- Biographies and Obituaries
- Points Raised About Penrose in Solanke
- Why Did It Take Penrose Eight Years to Change His Job Title?
- Corroborating Evidence For Penrose’s Anti-Eugenics
- Penrose and Anti-Racism
- Why Is This Important?
- References
Solanke (2020) cites none of the major peer-reviewed historical publications investigating Penrose and his research. Directly relevant to Penrose’s anti-eugenics views are Kevles (1985), Watt (1998a, 1998b), Mazumdar (1992), Bangham and de Chadarevian (2014), and Ramsden (2009, 2013, 2014). Most important, Mazumdar (1992) argues Penrose transformed...
Biographies and substantial obituaries for Penrose confirm his anti-eugenics stance and his positive work with persons who lived in groups frequently victimised by eugenic campaigners. For instance, Smith (1999) described Penrose as “furiously opposed to eugenics”. Harris (1973: 537) explained that Penrose “never liked the name ‘Eugenics’, because ...
Solanke (2020) uses two points to infer relationships between Penrose and eugenics. First, Penrose took a job at University College whose title was “Professor of Eugenics”. Second, several data points on funding in the early 1960s hint that eugenics research was underway in Penrose’s laboratory at that time. I’ll consider these two points in separa...
Formally, Penrose’s job title at University College began as “Galton Professor of Eugenics” (1945-1963), then “Galton Professor of Human Genetics” (1963-1965). After retiring, he became “Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics” (from 1965). (UCL Calendars). Penrose lobbied to change the formal title of his professorship throughout his employment at Un...
Several types of corroborating evidence support the view that Penrose was unambiguously anti-eugenics. These were within easy reach of the UCL Inquiry, yet they were given no place in Solanke’s (2020) analysis of Penrose.
Solanke (2020) presents the legacy of eugenics predominantly within a framework of global racialisation. There is no commentary of Penrose’s engagement with the politics of race, though this clearly is germane to the innuendo in that report. Penrose’s position while at University College was clearly aligned with anti-racism. The most accessible exa...
Considerable evidence shows Penrose had a record of strong anti-eugenics. This evidence was easily within the Inquiry’s grasp but it was passed over, replaced by omission and innuendo. Solanke (2020) failed in its role of investigation on this matter. A Macheivellian might interpret this failing thusly. The Eugenics Inquiry was supposed by some to ...
Bangham, Jenny and Sorayade Chadarevian. 2014. Human Heredity after 1945: Moving Populations Centre Stage. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences47: 45-49. Choudhury, Rubahanna Amannah. 2015. The Forgotten Children: The Association of Parents of Backward Children ...
Lionel Sharples Penrose was Galton professor of eugenics at University College London, and later emeritus professor. He was also director of the Kennedy-Galton Centre, Harperbury Hospital, St Albans, and an outstanding authority on the genetics of mental deficiency.
Dec 1, 1998 · Lionel Sharples Penrose was born on June 11, 1898, the second of four brothers. His father was an artist (a portrait painter); one of his brothers was a sailor, and another, Roland, was also an artist and according to family legend introduced Britain to the work of Picasso.
Jan 22, 1998 · Abstract. Lionel Penrose was born in London. His father, James Doyle Penrose a portrait painter, and his mother, Elizabeth Josephine (née Peckover) Penrose, were both members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) as their ancestors had been for 200 years.
