The Hungarian-American biochemist Albert von Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries relating to cell respiration and to the composition of vitamin C. He also did important work on the chemistry of muscle contraction.

The son of a landed proprietor, Albert von Szent-Györgyi was born in Budapest on Sept. 16, 1893. He became a medical student at the University of Budapest in 1911. His studies were interrupted by World War I, when he joined the military and was wounded in battle. Upon discharge from the army he resumed his studies and graduated in 1917 as a doctor of medicine. After further study at Prague, Berlin, and Hamburg and a post in pharmacology at Leiden, he worked from 1922 to 1926 as an assistant in the Institute of Physiology of the University of Groningen.

Biological Oxidation

By 1920 there was great interest in the method...