Technikatörténeti szemle 22. (1996)
Papers from the Second International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Eger, Hungary, 16–19 August, 1995) - Hannus, István: Albert Szent-Györgyi in the New York Times
ISTVÁN HANNUS* ALBERT SZENT-GYÖRGYI IN THE NEW YORK TIMES Introduction Internationally, Albert Szent-Györgyi is one of the best-known Hungarians. His fame is mainly due to his winning the Nobel Prize in 1937. This led to his becoming a living legend in Hungary, for of the 12 Nobel laureates of Hungarian origin 1 (most recently, László Harsányi in economy and György Oláh in chemistry in 1994) he is the only one who was awarded the medal while still a Hungarian citizen. In this way one Nobel medal came to Hungary: the original gold medal (207 g) today remains in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, while a gold-coated copy is to be found in the Museum of Szeged. His scientific activities in Hungary and in Szeged, in particular, are well known and well documented 2 , but much less information is publicly available as concerns the second half of his life, which he spent in the US. This is so in spite of an interview-based detailed biography entitled Free Radical (published in 1988 3 '. It is even so in Hungary, since this book, the title of which refers to his independent personality and also to his increasingly acknowledged view of the decisive role of radicals in causing cancer, has not been translated into Hungarian. As part of an attempt to fill this considerable hiatus, the author has collected all those articles published in one of the most respected American newspapers, The New York Times, which involve the personality, opinions or activities of Szent-Györgyi during his life in the US (and earlier). The nearly one-hundred newspaper pieces written by or about him provide an excellent picture of his scientific activities and his contributions to the well-being of the wider community. * József Attila University, Applied Chemistry Department H-6720 Szeged, Rerrich B. tér 1. (Hungary)
