Landmark designation
The American
Chemical Society and the Hungarian Chemical Society designated Albert
Szent-Györgyi’s work in biological combustion and the identifying
of vitamin C as an International Historic Chemical Landmark with a ceremony
in Szeged, Hungary, on May 11, 2002. The English text of the plaque
commemorating the event reads:
Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893- 1986), biochemist, pioneered the
study of biological oxidation mechanisms during the 1920s. Between 1930
and 1936, while a Professor at Szeged University, he proved that hexuronic
acid, which he had previously isolated, is identical with vitamin C
and that it could be extracted in kilogram quantities from paprika.
In 1937, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for
his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes,
with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid."
In later years he and his collaborators achieved world renown in the
field of the biochemical mechanism of muscular contraction. From 1948
until his death, he worked in the United States where he was also involved
in cancer research.
