Albert Szent-Györgyi

Albert Szent-Györgyi (September 16, 1893 - October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.

Related Topics:
September 16 - 1893 - October 22 - 1986 - Hungarian - Physiologist - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - 1937

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He was born in Budapest. His father, Nicolaus Szent-Györgyi, was a landowner. His mother, Josefine, was a daughter of Joseph Lenhossék and a sister of Michael Lenhossék; both of these men were Professors of Anatomy at the University of Budapest. Szent-Györgyi began his studies at the Budapest Medical School, but soon became bored with classes and began research in his uncle's anatomy lab. His studies were interrupted in 1914 to serve as an army medic in World War I. In 1916, disgusted with the war, Szent-Györgyi shot himself in the arm, claimed to be wounded from enemy fire, and was sent home on medical leave. He was then able to finish his medical education and receive his MD in 1917. He married Claire Demeny, the daughter of the Hungarian Postmaster General that same year. She accompanied him to his next position at an army clinic in northern Italy.

Related Topics:
Budapest - Joseph Lenhossék - Michael Lenhossék - Anatomy - University of Budapest - Budapest Medical School - 1914 - World War I - 1916 - 1917 - Italy

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After the war, Szent-Györgyi began his research career in Pozsony. When the city became part of Czechoslovakia in September 1919, all Hungarians were ordered to leave. He swictched universities several times over the next few years, finally ending up at the University of Groningen, where his work focused on the chemistry of cell respiration. This work landed him a position as a Rockefeller Foundation fellow at Cambridge University. He received his PhD from Cambridge in 1927 for his work on isolating what he then called "hexuronic acid" from adrenal gland tissue.

Related Topics:
Pozsony - Czechoslovakia - 1919 - University of Groningen - Chemistry - Cell - Respiration - Cambridge University - 1927

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He accepted a position at the University of Szeged in 1931. There, Szent-Györgyi and his research fellow Joseph Svirbely found that "hexuronic acid" was actually vitamin C (the L-enantiomer of ascorbic acid) and noted its anti-scorbutic activity. In some experiments they used paprika as the source for their vitamin C. Also during this time, Szent-Györgyi continued his work on celluar respiration, identifying fumaric acid and other steps in what would become known as the Krebs cycle.

Related Topics:
University of Szeged - 1931 - Vitamin C - Ascorbic acid - Scorbutic - Paprika - Krebs cycle

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In 1937, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "For his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion process with special reference to vitamin C & the catalysis of fumaric acid". In 1938, he began work on the biophysics of muscle movement. He found that muscles contain actin, which when combined with the protien myosin and the engergy source ATP, contract muscle fibers.

Related Topics:
1937 - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Catalysis - Fumaric acid - Biophysics - Muscle - Actin - Myosin - ATP

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As fascists gained control of politics in Hungary, Szent-Györgyi helped his Jewish friends escape from the country. During World War II, he joined the Hungarian resistance movement. Hilter himself issued a warrent for the arrest of Szent-Györgyi, and he spent 1944 to 1945 as a fugitive from the Gestapo.

Related Topics:
Jew - World War II - Resistance movement - 1944 - 1945 - Gestapo

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Dissatisfied with the support for science in Hungary under Communist rule, he emigrated to the United States in 1947. During the 1950s, he worked on applying the theories of quantum physics to biochemistry. He received the Lasker Award in 1954. In 1955, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He died in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Communist - 1947 - Quantum physics - Lasker Award - 1954 - 1955 - Naturalized citizen - United States - Woods Hole, Massachusetts

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