Albert Szent-Györgyi materials

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.