Albert Szent-Györgyi: Nobel Prize-winning discoverer of Vitamin C

Albert Szent-Györgyi, the Hungarian physician and biochemist who discovered Vitamin C, is commemorated on the anniversary of his death. Born in Budapest in 1893, Szent-Györgyi transitioned from a struggling student to a world-renowned scientist.

During World War I, he served as a medic but intentionally wounded his own arm to avoid combat due to his pacifist beliefs, allowing him to complete his medical studies. His scientific career included significant work in Cambridge and the United States. In Szeged, he successfully isolated Vitamin C, later named ascorbic acid, a breakthrough that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.

Szent-Györgyi was the first Hungarian to receive the Nobel Prize for research conducted within Hungary. His life was marked by both scientific triumph and the turbulence of war, including involvement with the ‘Eleven’ group during World War II. He spent his later years living in the United States, where he continued researching cancer treatments until his death in 1986.