Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who was the unwitting donor of cells from her cancerous tumor that was biopsied during treatment for cervical cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. These cells were cultured by George Otto Gey to create the first human immortal cell line, now known as the HeLa cell line, which is still used for medical research.
Henrietta Lacks was born Loretta Pleasant on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia, to Eliza and Johnny Pleasant. Her family is uncertain how her name changed from Loretta to Henrietta, but she was nicknamed Hennie. When Lacks was four years old, her mother died giving birth to her tenth child in 1924. Unable to care for the children alone after his wifes death, Lackss father brought the family to Clover, Virginia, where the children were distributed among relatives. Lacks ended up with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks, in a twostory log cabin that was once the slave quarters on the plantation that had been owned by Lackss white greatgrandfather and greatuncle. She shared a room with her nineyearold cousin and future husband, David Day Lacks .
Source: Wikipedia