Sir Frederick Grant Banting

Sir Frederick Grant Banting (1891-1941)

Life Description

Sir Frederick Grant Banting was a Canadian physician, physiologist,

and Nobel winner in 1923 for the discovery of the hormone insulin, used in

treating diabetes.

Early Life

Banting was born November 14, 1891, on a farm near Alliston, Ontario.

The death of his friend made him having the desire to be a doctor. However,

his father was a devoutly religious man, and hoped that Frederick would

become minister. After he graduated from high school, the conflicts with

his parents begun. His parents finally persuaded him to enrol in the

liberal art course at Victoria College, Ontario. In 1910, he and his

cousin Fred Hipwell began their studies at Victoria College.

However, Banting's mind was still on medicine. After several

arguments with his parents, he entered the University of Toronto Medical

School in the fall of 1912. His cousin quoted, "He was a steady,

industrious student. He had no top marks or even honor standing, but there

never was any doubt that he would pass."

World War I

While he was still in school, World War I started. In the spring of

1915, his name was enlisted in the Canadian Army. However, his commanding

officer, arranged him for his education. Hours after the successful

completion of his final exams in December 1916, he was back in uniform.

Within a few months, he was serving in the Canadian Army Hospital at

Ramsgate, England. He then voluntarily transferred to the front line near

Cambrai, France because he felt he was not doing enough. He used his

intelligence to capture three fully armed Germans without any use of

weapons! This earned a rank of the Captain.

He kept working at the frontline. On the morning of September 28,

1918, a shell burst close by and a piece of shrapnel buried itself in

Banting's right arm. It was so bad that a doctor informed him that they

had to amputate his arm. However, he refused, He did an operation to

himself. Even though it was a long, slow process, his arm finally did heal.

After World War I

By the time he was recovered, he went back to Toronto. He opened an

office as a surgeon. However, after 4 months, he only earned 14 dollars!

Therefore, he transferred to University of Western Ontario as a teacher.

Winning the Nobel Prize