Timeline Franklin and Zephaniah

Franklin and Zephaniah 2

• 1920 – 1958 Rosalind Franklin X-ray crystallographer whose data was pivotal to discovering the structure of DNA Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920-1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose diffraction images of DNA, most famously "Photo 51", provided critical evidence for the double-helix structure published by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953. Beyond DNA, she made lasting contributions to the understanding of coal and carbon structures and to the molecular structure of viruses, including tobacco mosaic virus and poliovirus. Her data was used by Watson and Crick without her knowledge or consent, and for decades her role in the DNA discovery was underappreciated. She died of ovarian cancer at 37, four years before the 1962 Nobel Prize was awarded to Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins for the work her data underpinned.
• 1958 – 2023 Benjamin Zephaniah British Poet & Writer British writer, poet and activist of Jamaican heritage who became one of the most widely recognised poets in Britain. Known for his dub poetry and energetic performance style, he brought poetry to audiences far beyond the literary establishment. He declined an OBE in 2003, citing the British Empire's legacy of slavery and colonialism. He was also a prominent vegan, martial arts practitioner and campaigner for social justice.