Brian Davies died peacefully at his home in Aberystwyth on May 5th , 2022. Our condolences go out to his wife, Susan, and their two children, Rebecca and Matthew.
Brian was a native of Rhyl, North Wales. His undergraduate degree was in Biochemistry from the University of Liverpool, but he studied for a PhD at UCW Aberystwyth under the supervision of Prof T W Goodwin. His particular interest was on the carotenoids of photosynthetic bacteria and particularly those of Rhodospirillum rubrum. On the award of his PhD in 1961, he joined the Department of Agricultural Biochemistry at Aberystwyth as a lecturer and later senior lecturer. Thus began a 35-year career studying the identification and biosynthesis of carotenoids from a wide variety of organisms. Apart from photosynthetic bacteria, Brian also investigated the carotenoids of Capsicum (capsanthin and capsorubin), lobster (astaxanthin), carotenogenesis in the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus, xanthophylls in the oil droplets of avian eyes and the formation of diapocarotenoids in Streptomyces and Staphylococcus. In each case, Brian adopted a meticulous biochemical and analytical chemistry approach to his studies, training and
inspiring his postgraduates and research assistants accordingly.
Brian was a master at oral communication and his talks at conferences were always eagerly anticipated. They were timed to the minute and used slides he had painstakingly prepared using Letraset and Rotring pens. His written works were of the same standard. In 1965, Brian contributed a major chapter on methods of carotenoid analysis to the first edition of Goodwin’s book, Chemistry and Biochemistry of Plant Pigments, and for the second edition, published in 2 volumes in 1976, greatly expanded this into a comprehensive review that contained large tables of UV/Visible light absorption coefficients, which remains a valuable source of information today. Brian was one of 53 participants in the inaugural International Symposium on Carotenoids other than Vitamin A, held in Trondheim, Norway in 1966. He presented an invited lecture at this meeting and attended and gave plenary and invited lectures at every triennial International Symposium on Carotenoids up to the 9th in Kyoto, Japan, in 1990.
Following retirement, Brian maintained an active interest in pigments, most especially those used in medieval manuscripts. He gave lectures on this subject both at home and abroad, explaining the pigments and techniques used to decorate parchment and paper books. In addition, he established a Science for Archivists component of a postgraduate Archivist Administration course at Aberystwyth and, as an accomplished singer, he took key roles in operatic productions.
Brian leaves many friends in the carotenoid family, most notably those who worked closely with him, and are greatly saddened by his passing.
