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Albert Szent-Györgyi materials

 Record Group
Identifier: MC-MBL-Szent-Gyorgyi

Scope and Contents

The collection is an eclectic mixture of various items donated by individuals about Albert Szent-Györgyi. Box 1 contains photographs and documents mostly from 1950s to 1980s. Much of the material was included in the National Library of Medicine “Profiles in Science” website. Many of the photographs are by Delbert Philpott. Box 2 is primarily reprints, books, and interviews. The final grouping (“Box 3”) includes physical items such as Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel Prize diploma, various artworks of Szent-Györgyi, and media slants from his laboratory.

Dates

  • 1937-2001

Conditions Governing Access

Open: materials are available for research.

Biographical Information

Albert Szent-Györgyi was born in Budapest, Hungary, on September 16, 1893. He started at Budapest Medical School in 1911 but his studies were interrupted by World War I. He completed his MD in 1917. He held a number of positions at various universities around Europe, gaining much experience, before returning to Hungary in 1931 at the University of Szeged. Along the way, he completed his PhD in Biochemistry at Cambridge University.

Szent-Györgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937 for “his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid.” After becoming increasingly politically active during World War II, Szent-Györgyi left Hungary when it became evident that the post-war Soviet regime was not supporting science. Szent-Györgyi first arrived in Woods Hole in 1947 where he opened a laboratory at the MBL. At the time, it was one of the very few activities at the MBL during the winter months. As Director of the Institute of Muscle Research, followed by the National Foundation for Cancer Research, his work continued at the MBL until his death in 1986.

He received the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1954 for “his distinguished research achievements in the field of cardiovascular diseases, including the discovery of actomyosin, the essential contractible element of muscle.”

In addition to his laboratory work from 1947-1986, Szent-Györgyi was active at the MBL in the Physiology course (1951-1972, 1978), Developmental Biology course (1974-1975, 1978), and Ecology course (1979). He served eight years as a Trustee of the MBL and was a longtime Corporation member.

More detailed biographical information is available at http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/WG.

Extent

2 boxes (two 12" x 5" boxes; additional objects)

Language

English

Arrangement

The Albert Szent-Györgyi collection consists of three groups of materials. Box 1 was left in its original order as it was compiled for the National Library “Profiles in Science” website. Box 2 was arranged in the order received. “Box 3” contains various items that are located at the MBL, most on display in the Library.

Related Materials

There are other photographs of Szent-Györgyi available in the MBL Archives, including photos donated by the Szent-Györgyi family. A transcript of an interview by Elsa Keil Sichel for the Woods Hole Library Historical Collection is available in the MBL Archives.

The National Library of Medicine includes materials related to Szent-Györgyi in the “Profiles in Science” collection: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/WG. Some of these materials were digitized from the collection of the MBL Archives.

Processing Information

Processed January 19, 2016.

Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Marine Biological Laboratory Archives Repository

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