Gerald Isaac Pasternak Levenson BSc. PhD, FRSC, C. Chem, FRPS (12 November 1917 in Ammanford, Wales – 22 January 2008 in the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, Wales) was the eighth of nine children of Morris Levenson (formally Pasternak) a draper and Rose Levenson (nee Rutter) of Cardiff. Educated at Ammanford and Swansea Grammar Schools he moved to north London to work in the Research Laboratories of Eastman Kodak in Harrow, Middlesex, England. Sponsored by Kodak, he attended Birkbeck College, University of London (1936-1940) where he obtained his BSc in chemistry. He and his colleagues in the research labs worked on secret photographic research projects during World War II. His speciality was film development. In 1953 he was awarded the Davanne Medal by the French Photographic Society (Société Française de Photographie). His work is still a reference for modern photographic chemists. He retired from Kodak in 1981.
Personal life
Levenson was also a talented artist in several media. Sketching, oil, pastels, etching and clay. He exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the New English Art Club.
His hobbies were art, boating and his travels on the Norfolk Broads and the River Thames.
He was married to Kate Russell-Solomon for 66 years who, with their three daughters Sarah, Susan and Jennifer; survives him.
