The Resume

(September 16, 1893-October 22, 1986)
Born in Budapest, Hungary
Discovered vitamin C
Discovered several components of the citric acid cycle
Identified actin and myosin, two of the proteins involved in muscle contraction
Won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1937)

Why he might be annoying:

He said he had been a 'very dull child' who hated books and often needed a tutor's help to pass exams. (Although that changed when he turned sixteen.)
After serving as a medic in WWI for two years, he got out of further duty by shooting himself in the arm and claiming to have been hit by enemy fire.
When he was 72, he married the 25-year-old daughter of a fellow scientist; they divorced three years later.
His laboratory was often in financial trouble, partly because he refused to fill out grant applications that asked what he expected to find, arguing that if he already knew what he would discover, he wouldn't have to do the research.

Why he might not be annoying:

He donated his Nobel Prize money to a fund to help Finland after that country was attacked by the Soviet Union (1939).
He helped several Jewish colleagues escape Hungary as fascists took over the government.
He joined the Hungarian resistance during World War II.
After he took part in a secret mission to see if Hungary could negotiate a separate peace with the Allies, Hitler personally ordered his arrest, and he spent the last year of WWII hiding from the Gestapo.
He said, 'Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 56]
• Google Modified Its Logo For My Birthday (Google Doodles)
• Hyphenated Names
• I am Hungarian
• I Attended Cambridge
• I Died in 1986 (Ranked: 93)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• I Married in 1975
• I Served in Both World Wars
• I Sought Political Office
• I Took a Bullet
• My Spouse is at Least Ten Years Younger than Me
• Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (Ranked: 1937)
• Profiles 36251-36500 (Ranked: 36407)
• Scientists
• Served in World War I
• Served in World War II
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19861022)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying