George Emil Palade was born in 1912, in northeastern Romania. One of three children, Palade came from a professional family and earned his medical degree from the University of Bucharest in 1940. In 1941, he married Irina Malaxa; they eventually had two children together.

In 1945, after being discharged from the army, Palade obtained a research position at New York University. While there he met the eminent cell biologist Albert Claude, who had pioneered both the use of the electron microscope in cell study and techniques of cell fractionation (the separation of the constituent parts of cells by centrifugal action). The older scientist invited Palade to join the staff at the Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller University), and in 1946 Palade accepted a two-year fellowship as visiting investigator. Political instability in Romania caused Palade to stay in the United States permanently. He became a U.S. citizen in 1952 and a full professor of cytology...