Artturi Ilmari Virtanen

Artturi Ilmari Virtanen (pronounced [ˈɑrtːuri ˈilmɑri ˈʋirtɑnen] (help·info)) (January 15, 1895 – November 11, 1973) was a Finnish chemist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Virtanen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He completed his school education at the Classical Lyceum in Viipuri, Finland. He married the botanist Lilja Moisio in 1920 and had two sons with her. In 1933 he bought a farm near Helsinki where he tested some of his s... more

Artturi Ilmari Virtanen (pronounced [ˈɑrtːuri ˈilmɑri ˈʋirtɑnen] (help·info)) (January 15, 1895 – November 11, 1973) was a Finnish chemist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Virtanen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He completed his school education at the Classical Lyceum in Viipuri, Finland. He married the botanist Lilja Moisio in 1920 and had two sons with her. In 1933 he bought a farm near Helsinki where he tested some of his scientific results in practice. He saw in the overproduction of food only a temporary phenomenon. He loved the simple life, never had a car of his own, never smoked and never consumed alcohol. He died two weeks after a hip fracture, from complications. Virtanen began his studies in chemistry 1913 earning his Master and in 1918 his Phd in organic chemistry. In 1919 he started to work in the laboratories of Valio, a large producer of dairy products and became director of the laboratory in 1920. Feeling not fully qualified and following his... less