Jack Drummond
Encyclopedia
Sir Jack Cecil Drummond FRIC
, FRS (12 Jan 1891—4 Aug or 5 Aug 1952) was a distinguished biochemist
, noted for his work on nutrition as applied to the British
diet under rationing during the Second World War. He was murdered, together with his wife and 10-year old daughter, on the night of 4 Aug – 5 Aug 1952 near Lurs
, a village or commune
in the Basses-Alpes region (now Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
) of Southern France
.
, although some sources claim he was born in the largely working-class area of Kennington
in South London
. He was the son of Colonel John Drummond of the Royal Horse Artillery
and his wife (or lover) Gertrude Drummond. John died at age 55, only three months after Jack's birth. Jack was adopted and raised by John's sister Maria Spinks, who lived in nearby Charlton
. Maria's husband, George, was a retired captain quartermaster
, who had seen action in the Crimea
. According to James Fergusson, life could not have been much fun for the solitary boy in the elderly couple's home. He attended the John Roan School
in Greenwich
and Strand School
at King's College London
in the Strand
.
Drummond's family origins remain unclear. No birth certificate exists for him in the Family Records Office. His father John, the major, describes himself as a bachelor in his will, which makes no mention of a son. In the 1891 census
Jack's name was given as Cecil, his mother's as Gertrude Drummond, and her age as 29. It is not known what happened to Gertrude, or whether she was married to John. In the 1901 census
, his name is recorded as Jack Cecil Spinks, taking his adoptive mother's surname. It is likely that as a boy Jack used the surname Spinks to avoid social embarrassment to his adoptive parents, but reverted to the surname Drummond sometime during his teens.
On 17 July 1915 Drummond married Mable Helen Straw, who had also been an undergraduate at East London College. Their marriage lasted 24 years until in 1939 it broke up because of Drummond's affair with his secretary and co-author, Anne Wilbraham (born 10 Dec 1907). Jack and Anne married on 15 June 1940. Their only child, Elizabeth, was born on 23 March 1942.
in 1912 at East London College (now Queen Mary, University of London
), Jack Drummond became a research assistant in the department of physiology
at King's College London
, working under Otto Rosenheim and the professor W.D. Halliburton. In 1914 he moved to the Cancer Hospital Research Institute, where he worked with Casimir Funk, who had coined the word vitamine (from vital amine). This was when Drummond first became interested in nutrition
. In 1917 Halliburton invited Drummond to join him in experimental work on substitutes for butter and margarine. As a result of this work, fat-soluble vitamins became one of his major fields of interest. It also led him to the study of practical problems of human nutrition, and in 1918 he published a paper in The Lancet
on infant feeding.
In 1919 he moved to University College London
(UCL) to work on physiological chemistry
, the precursor to modern biochemistry
. In 1920, he proposed that the "vital substances" discovered by Elmer Verner McCollum and by Casimir Funk should be called Vitamins A
and B respectively, to contrast them with his proposed antiscurvy factor, Vitamin C
. He also dropped the final "e" from Funk's designation, because not all vitamins contain an amine group. In 1922, at the early age of 31, he became the first Professor of Biochemistry at UCL, and held that position until 1945 (in absentia from 1939). He was also Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences from 1929 to 1932.
In the 1930s, he succeeded in isolating pure vitamin A. Also in the 1930s, he became increasingly aware of the need to apply the new science of nutrition in practice. This awareness, combined with his interest in gastronomy, led him to study the English diet over the previous 500 years. He published the results of this study as the book—co-authored with his future second wife Anne Wilbraham—The Englishman’s Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet in 1939.
The Ministry of Food consulted him on the gas contamination of food at the outbreak of war, and on 16 October 1939 appointed him chief adviser on food contamination. Drummond interested himself in the various scientific aspects of the ministry's work, and urged the creation of a co-ordinating unit within the ministry with a scientific liaison officer in charge. On 1 February 1940 he was appointed Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Food. When Lord Woolton became Minister of Food in April 1940, Drummond produced a plan for the distribution of food based on "sound nutritional principles". He recognised that rationing was the perfect opportunity to attack what he called "dietetic ignorance", and that, if successful, he would be able not just to maintain but to improve the nation's health. Thanks to Drummond's advice, the effect of rationing was to introduce more protein and vitamins to the diet of the poorest in society, while the better off were obliged to cut their consumption of meat, fats, sugar and eggs. Follow-up studies after the war showed that, despite rationing and the stresses of war, the population's health had improved. Drummond was Fullerian Professor of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy at the Royal Institution
from 1941 to 1944. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society on 16 March 1944, and was knighted in the same year.
In 1944, Drummond became an adviser on nutrition to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
and in 1945 to the allied control commissions
for Germany
and Austria
. Also in 1945 he joined Boots Pure Drug Company as Director of Research, but remained seconded to the Ministry of Food until 1946.
Drummond's career move to Boots at Nottingham
was surprising to many of his former colleagues. It was also surprising that a man who had publicly advocated the exhaustive testing of new agrochemicals should have been responsible for the development of possibly harmful products such as Cornox, based on Dichlorprop
, one of the chlorine
-based phenoxy
family of hormone weed-killers descended from ICI
's wartime invention MCPA
. Concerns about the lack of data on the toxicity of Dichlorprop led to its withdrawal from the UK market in 2003. On the other hand, Drummond's successor as Boots's director of research, Gordon Hobday
, described Drummond as "an altruist" who had committed substantial research resources into cures for tropical diseases. Hobday had quickly cancelled this research, saying "there was never any money in it."
estate car, the Drummonds stopped by the side of the N96
main road, less than 200 metres from a picturesque farmhouse called La Grand'Terre. The site is marked by a milestone as exactly 6 km south of Peyruis
and 6 km north of La Brillanne
. A footpath leads from the site down to the banks of the river Durance
.
La Grand'Terre was the home of the Dominicis, a family of Franco-Italian peasant farmers: the patriarch Gaston, his wife Marie, their son Gustave, Gustave's wife Yvette and their baby son Alain. It was Gustave who claimed to have found the three dead bodies around 5:30am on the morning of 5 August, and who flagged down a passing motorcyclist, Jean-Marie Olivier, telling him to fetch the police.
Anne's body was found near the car. Jack's lay on the other side of the N96, covered by a camp bed. They had both been shot by a Rock-Ola
rifle
. The body of 10-year-old Elizabeth was found 77 metres away, down the path leading to the river, on the other side of the bridge over the railway. Her head had been brutally smashed in by the stock of the rifle. The barrel of the murder weapon was soon found in the river, with the stock a short distance downstream. It is likely that the force of the blow or blows used to kill Elizabeth had also broken the stock off the rifle.
Gaston Dominici was convicted of the murders in November 1954, and sentenced to the guillotine
. However, both the police investigation and the conduct of the trial had been widely criticised, and after two inconclusive inquiries, President René Coty
commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Coty was succeeded in 1959 by President Charles de Gaulle
, who ordered Dominici's release on humanitarian grounds, but did not pardon him, nor grant his request for a retrial.
The Drummonds are buried in the cemetery of the well-known tourist town of Forcalquier
, about 25 km east of Lurs. Near the stone bridge over the railway, a cross with children's votive offerings marks the spot where Elizabeth's body was found.
The murders remain a subject of hot dispute to this day in France, where they are referred to as l'affaire Dominici . Alain Dominici, a baby at the time of the murders, has spent a lifetime campaigning for the innocence of his grandfather.
Royal Institute of Chemistry
The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation.Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain, its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim was to ensure that consulting and analytical chemists were properly...
, FRS (12 Jan 1891—4 Aug or 5 Aug 1952) was a distinguished biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
, noted for his work on nutrition as applied to the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diet under rationing during the Second World War. He was murdered, together with his wife and 10-year old daughter, on the night of 4 Aug – 5 Aug 1952 near Lurs
Lurs, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Lurs is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It is noted for the triple murder nearby of Jack Drummond and his wife and daughter in 1952.-Population:...
, a village or commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Basses-Alpes region (now Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is a French department in the south of France, it was formerly part of the province of Provence.- History :Nord-de-Provence was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
) of Southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Early life and family background
Jack Drummond was born in LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, although some sources claim he was born in the largely working-class area of Kennington
Kennington
Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....
in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. He was the son of Colonel John Drummond of the Royal Horse Artillery
Royal Horse Artillery
The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
and his wife (or lover) Gertrude Drummond. John died at age 55, only three months after Jack's birth. Jack was adopted and raised by John's sister Maria Spinks, who lived in nearby Charlton
Charlton, London
Charlton is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Greenwich. It is located east-southeast of Charing Cross. Charlton next Woolwich was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. It is home to Charlton...
. Maria's husband, George, was a retired captain quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
, who had seen action in the Crimea
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. According to James Fergusson, life could not have been much fun for the solitary boy in the elderly couple's home. He attended the John Roan School
John Roan school
The John Roan School is a secondary comprehensive school in Greenwich, South London that was a member of The Beacon Schools program.- Location :...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
and Strand School
Strand School
Strand School was a boys' grammar school in the Tulse Hill area of South London. It moved there in 1913 from its original location in the Strand...
at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
in the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
.
Drummond's family origins remain unclear. No birth certificate exists for him in the Family Records Office. His father John, the major, describes himself as a bachelor in his will, which makes no mention of a son. In the 1891 census
Census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
Jack's name was given as Cecil, his mother's as Gertrude Drummond, and her age as 29. It is not known what happened to Gertrude, or whether she was married to John. In the 1901 census
United Kingdom Census 1901
A nationwide census was conducted in England and Wales on 31 March 1901. It contains records for 32 million people and 6 million houses, It covers the whole of England and Wales, with the exception of parts of Deal in Kent. Separate censuses were held in Scotland and Ireland...
, his name is recorded as Jack Cecil Spinks, taking his adoptive mother's surname. It is likely that as a boy Jack used the surname Spinks to avoid social embarrassment to his adoptive parents, but reverted to the surname Drummond sometime during his teens.
On 17 July 1915 Drummond married Mable Helen Straw, who had also been an undergraduate at East London College. Their marriage lasted 24 years until in 1939 it broke up because of Drummond's affair with his secretary and co-author, Anne Wilbraham (born 10 Dec 1907). Jack and Anne married on 15 June 1940. Their only child, Elizabeth, was born on 23 March 1942.
Scientific career
After graduating with First Class honours in chemistryChemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in 1912 at East London College (now Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
), Jack Drummond became a research assistant in the department of physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, working under Otto Rosenheim and the professor W.D. Halliburton. In 1914 he moved to the Cancer Hospital Research Institute, where he worked with Casimir Funk, who had coined the word vitamine (from vital amine). This was when Drummond first became interested in nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
. In 1917 Halliburton invited Drummond to join him in experimental work on substitutes for butter and margarine. As a result of this work, fat-soluble vitamins became one of his major fields of interest. It also led him to the study of practical problems of human nutrition, and in 1918 he published a paper in The Lancet
The Lancet
The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...
on infant feeding.
In 1919 he moved to University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
(UCL) to work on physiological chemistry
Physiological chemistry
Physiological chemistry is the chemistry of the organs and tissues of the body and of the various physiological processes incident to life. Physiological chemistry is essentially the precursor to modern biochemistry. In the nineteenth century, physiological chemistry dealt primarily with...
, the precursor to modern biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
. In 1920, he proposed that the "vital substances" discovered by Elmer Verner McCollum and by Casimir Funk should be called Vitamins A
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...
and B respectively, to contrast them with his proposed antiscurvy factor, Vitamin C
Vitamin C
Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...
. He also dropped the final "e" from Funk's designation, because not all vitamins contain an amine group. In 1922, at the early age of 31, he became the first Professor of Biochemistry at UCL, and held that position until 1945 (in absentia from 1939). He was also Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences from 1929 to 1932.
In the 1930s, he succeeded in isolating pure vitamin A. Also in the 1930s, he became increasingly aware of the need to apply the new science of nutrition in practice. This awareness, combined with his interest in gastronomy, led him to study the English diet over the previous 500 years. He published the results of this study as the book—co-authored with his future second wife Anne Wilbraham—The Englishman’s Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet in 1939.
The Ministry of Food consulted him on the gas contamination of food at the outbreak of war, and on 16 October 1939 appointed him chief adviser on food contamination. Drummond interested himself in the various scientific aspects of the ministry's work, and urged the creation of a co-ordinating unit within the ministry with a scientific liaison officer in charge. On 1 February 1940 he was appointed Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Food. When Lord Woolton became Minister of Food in April 1940, Drummond produced a plan for the distribution of food based on "sound nutritional principles". He recognised that rationing was the perfect opportunity to attack what he called "dietetic ignorance", and that, if successful, he would be able not just to maintain but to improve the nation's health. Thanks to Drummond's advice, the effect of rationing was to introduce more protein and vitamins to the diet of the poorest in society, while the better off were obliged to cut their consumption of meat, fats, sugar and eggs. Follow-up studies after the war showed that, despite rationing and the stresses of war, the population's health had improved. Drummond was Fullerian Professor of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy at the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
from 1941 to 1944. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society on 16 March 1944, and was knighted in the same year.
In 1944, Drummond became an adviser on nutrition to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence...
and in 1945 to the allied control commissions
Allied Commission
Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allied Powers were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Eastern Advisory Commission to make recommendations...
for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Also in 1945 he joined Boots Pure Drug Company as Director of Research, but remained seconded to the Ministry of Food until 1946.
Drummond's career move to Boots at Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
was surprising to many of his former colleagues. It was also surprising that a man who had publicly advocated the exhaustive testing of new agrochemicals should have been responsible for the development of possibly harmful products such as Cornox, based on Dichlorprop
Dichlorprop
Dichlorprop is a chlorophenoxy herbicide similar in structure to 2,4-D that is used to kill annual and perennial broadleaf weeds. It is a component of many common weedkillers...
, one of the chlorine
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...
-based phenoxy
Phenoxy herbicide
A phenoxy herbicide is any member of a family of chemicals related to the growth hormone indoleacetic acid . When sprayed on broad-leaf plants they induce rapid, uncontrolled growth, eventually killing them. When sprayed on crops such as wheat or corn, it selectively kills just the broad-leaf...
family of hormone weed-killers descended from ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
's wartime invention MCPA
MCPA
MCPA or 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid is a powerful, selective, widely-used phenoxy herbicide. The pure compound is a brown-colored powder.-History:...
. Concerns about the lack of data on the toxicity of Dichlorprop led to its withdrawal from the UK market in 2003. On the other hand, Drummond's successor as Boots's director of research, Gordon Hobday
Gordon Hobday
Sir Gordon Ivan Hobday is a distinguished scientist, who worked on penicillin with Alexander Fleming, and is noted especially for his role as director of the Boots research team that developed ibuprofen. He later went on to become Chairman of Boots....
, described Drummond as "an altruist" who had committed substantial research resources into cures for tropical diseases. Hobday had quickly cancelled this research, saying "there was never any money in it."
Murder
On the evening of 4 August 1952, while on holiday in France in their green HillmanHillman
Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...
estate car, the Drummonds stopped by the side of the N96
Route nationale (France)
A route nationale, or simply nationale, is a trunk road in France. Trunk roads are in France are important roads which cross broad portions of the French territory, as opposed to secondary or communal roads who only serve local areas....
main road, less than 200 metres from a picturesque farmhouse called La Grand'Terre. The site is marked by a milestone as exactly 6 km south of Peyruis
Peyruis
Peyruis is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are referred to as Peyruisiens.-External links:* * *...
and 6 km north of La Brillanne
La Brillanne
La Brillanne is a commune in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southeastern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are referred to as Brillannais.-External links:* * *...
. A footpath leads from the site down to the banks of the river Durance
Durance
The Durance is a major river in south-eastern France.Its source is in the south-western Alps, in Montgenèvre ski resort near Briançon and it flows south-west through the following départements and cities:* Hautes-Alpes: Briançon, Embrun.* Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Sisteron, Manosque.* Vaucluse:...
.
La Grand'Terre was the home of the Dominicis, a family of Franco-Italian peasant farmers: the patriarch Gaston, his wife Marie, their son Gustave, Gustave's wife Yvette and their baby son Alain. It was Gustave who claimed to have found the three dead bodies around 5:30am on the morning of 5 August, and who flagged down a passing motorcyclist, Jean-Marie Olivier, telling him to fetch the police.
Anne's body was found near the car. Jack's lay on the other side of the N96, covered by a camp bed. They had both been shot by a Rock-Ola
Rock-Ola
The Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation was, along with Wurlitzer, a top maker of jukeboxes. The company, which originally made slot machines, scales and pinball machines, was founded in 1927 by Coin-Op pioneer David Cullen Rockola....
rifle
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
. The body of 10-year-old Elizabeth was found 77 metres away, down the path leading to the river, on the other side of the bridge over the railway. Her head had been brutally smashed in by the stock of the rifle. The barrel of the murder weapon was soon found in the river, with the stock a short distance downstream. It is likely that the force of the blow or blows used to kill Elizabeth had also broken the stock off the rifle.
Gaston Dominici was convicted of the murders in November 1954, and sentenced to the guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
. However, both the police investigation and the conduct of the trial had been widely criticised, and after two inconclusive inquiries, President René Coty
René Coty
René Jules Gustave Coty was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president under the French Fourth Republic.-Early life and politics:...
commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Coty was succeeded in 1959 by President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, who ordered Dominici's release on humanitarian grounds, but did not pardon him, nor grant his request for a retrial.
The Drummonds are buried in the cemetery of the well-known tourist town of Forcalquier
Forcalquier
Forcalquier is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river...
, about 25 km east of Lurs. Near the stone bridge over the railway, a cross with children's votive offerings marks the spot where Elizabeth's body was found.
The murders remain a subject of hot dispute to this day in France, where they are referred to as l'affaire Dominici . Alain Dominici, a baby at the time of the murders, has spent a lifetime campaigning for the innocence of his grandfather.
Awards and honours
- 1918 D.Sc. from University of LondonUniversity of London-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
- 1944 knightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed - 1944 elected FRS
- 1946 Commander (Civil Division) of the Order of Orange-NassauOrder of Orange-NassauThe Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
- 1946 elected Honorary Member of the New York Academy of SciencesNew York Academy of SciencesThe New York Academy of Sciences is the third oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, non-profit organization with more than members in 140 countries, the Academy’s mission is to advance understanding of science and technology...
- 1947 Lasker Group Award of the APHA
- 1948 honorary doctorate from University of ParisUniversity of ParisThe University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Medal of FreedomPresidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
with Silver Palms