Peterhouse, Cambridge

Peterhouse is one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge, England. It was created in 1284 and is the oldest college. It is also one of the smallest ones, with less than 400 total students.

The first court of Peterhouse

In 1280, Hugo de Balsham, the person who created the college, was first allowed to keep some students following the same rules of Merton College, Oxford. At first, they stayed where St John's College is now. Four years later, they bought some land near the Church of St Peter in Trumpington Street, where Peterhouse is still found now. Over the years, Peterhouse has been centre of many important events. It was here that many discussions about religion and the Protestant Reformation took place. Peterhouse was also the second building in England to get electricity, after the Palace of Westminster.

Some very important people have studied here. Five of them have won Nobel Prizes:

• Max Perutz and John Kendrew - Chemistry (1962) for finding out the first atomic structures of proteins using X-ray crystallography.
• Sir Aaron Klug - Chemistry (1982) for developing crystallographic electron microscopy.
• Archer Martin - Chemistry (1952) for inventing partition chromatography.
• Michael Levitt

Others include:

• Henry Cavendish, a scientist who discovered hydrogen
• James Clerk Maxwell, a physicist
• Eudora Welty, an author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
• Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who was a Prime Minister of Great Britain

Other websites

• Official website