Patent of the first orally active progestin which led to the development of the oral contraceptive, elected to the USA Inventors Hall of Fame

Carl Djerassi (born October 29, 1923 in Vienna, Austria), is a chemist and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill (OCP). He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexicans Luis E. Miramontes and Jorge Rosenkranz, of the progestin norethindrone which, unlike progesterone, remained effective when taken orally and was far stronger than the naturally occurring hormone. His preparation was first administered as an oral contraceptive to animals by Gregory Pincus and Min Chueh Chang and to women by John Rock. Djerassi remarked that he did not have birth control in mind when he began working with progesterone — "not in our wildest dreams… did we imagine (it)" — though he is now referred to by some as the father of the pill. He is also the author of the novel Cantor's Dilemma, in which he explores the ethics of modern scientific research through his protagonist, Dr. Cantor. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (940x745, 214 KB) Summary This is the US patent registering the invention of the sustance that would became the contraceptive pill. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (940x745, 214 KB) Summary This is the US patent registering the invention of the sustance that would became the contraceptive pill. ... October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... Chemistry - the study of atoms, made of nuclei (conglomeration of center particles) and electrons (outer particles), and the structures they form. ... Template:Unsourced A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... The combined oral contraceptive pill, often referred to as the Pill, is a combination of an estrogen (oestrogen) and a progestin (progestogen), taken by mouth to inhibit normal fertility. ... Luis E. Miramontes ca. ... George Rosenkranz (right) and Luis E. Miramontes (left), 2001 at UNAM George Rosenkranz (born August 20, 1916, in Budapest) is a Mexican Ph. ... A progestin is a synthetic progestagen. ... A progestin is a synthetic progestagen. ... Progesterone is a C-21 steroid hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy (supports gestation) and embryogenesis of humans and other species. ... Norepinephrine A hormone (from Greek όρμή - to set in motion) is a chemical messenger from one cell (or group of cells) to another. ... Gregory Goodwin Pincus (April 9, 1903 - August 22, 1967), American physician, biologist, and researcher, was co-inventor of the contraceptive pill. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Ethics (from the Ancient Greek Ä“thikos, the adjective of Ä“thos custom, habit), a major branch of philosophy, including genetics is the study of values and customs of a person or group. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...

Life

Djerassi's mother was an Austrian Ashkenazi Jew and his father was a Bulgarian Sephardic Jew. They met in medical school at the University of Vienna, married, and moved to Sofia, Bulgaria. His mother returned to Vienna for two months for the birth of her only child. Djerassi lived in Bulgaria with his parents until he was five. He and his mother then moved to Vienna. Until age fourteen, he attended the same Realgymnasium that Sigmund Freud had attended many years earlier, spending summers in Bulgaria with his father, who had divorced his mother. After the Anschluss, his father briefly remarried his mother to allow Djerassi to escape the Nazi regime and flee to Bulgaria in 1938, where he lived with his father for a year attending the American College of Sofia and perfected his fluency in English, while his mother went to England to await a visa to emigrate to the United States. In 1939, the 16-year-old Djerassi arrived with his mother in the United States, nearly penniless (they had only $20 between them). He wrote a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, asking where he should go to college. She sent him a reply with veiled advice, and he found a school and a scholarship. Ashkenazi (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, Standard Hebrew Aškanazi, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzî) Jews or Ashkenazic Jews, also called Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי&#1501... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the... The University of Vienna (German: Universität Wien) in Vienna, Austria is the oldest university in the current Austro-Hungarian domain; it formally opened in 1365. ... Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Coordinates: Country Bulgaria Province Sofia-City Government  - Mayor Boyko Borisov Area  - City 1,349 km²  (520. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... A gymnasium (pronounced with or, in Swedish, as opposed to ) is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English Grammar Schools and U.S. High Schools. ... Sigmund Freud (born Sigismund Schlomo Freud) May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939; (IPA: ) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who co-founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political leader who used her stature as First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 to promote her husbands (Franklin D. Roosevelts) New Deal, as well as civil rights. ...

He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Kenyon College (B.A. in organic chemistry, 1942). He married his first wife, Virginia, an American, in 1943 before beginning graduate study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1945. He became an American citizen in 1945 and worked for Ciba the year before and four years after his graduate studies. It is not clear whether the U.S. State Department asked him to surrender his Austrian passport; in any case, the Austrian government sent him a new one decades later, and put his face on a postage stamp. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an honor society which considers its mission to be fostering and recognizing excellence in undergraduate liberal arts and sciences. ... Kenyon College is a private, highly selective liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of the The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... The University of Wisconsin–Madison (also known as UW–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, or UW) is a highly selective public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... Ciba Specialty Chemicals is a chemical company based in and near Basel, Switzerland. ...

In 1949, he was recruited to be the associate director of research at Syntex in Mexico City by then-technical director George Rosenkranz, and worked there from 1950-1951. At Syntex, he worked on a new snthesis of cortisone based on diosgenin, a steroid sapogenin derived from a Mexican wild yam; then his team synthesized norethindrome, a progestin-analogue that was effective when taken by mouth. This became part of the first successful oral contraceptive, also known as the [[birth-control pill], or simply, the Pill. From 1952 to 1959, Djerassi taught chemistry at Wayne State University. He returned to Syntex from 1957 to 1960, while on a leave of absence from Wayne State.^[1][2] Laboratorios Syntex SA was a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City in 1944 by Russell Marker to manufacture therapeutic steroids from the Mexican yam. ... Nickname: Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded (as Tenochtitlan) c. ... George Rosenkranz (born August 20, 1916, in Budapest) is a Mexican Ph. ... Cortisone (IPA:ˈkôrtəˌsōn) is a steroid hormone. ... This article, image, template or category should belong in one or more categories. ... A progestin is a synthetic progestagen. ... Oral contraceptives are chemicals taken by mouth to inhibit normal fertility. ... Wayne State University (Detroit, MI 48202) is located in Detroit, Michigan, in the citys Midtown Cultural Center. ...

Since 1959, Djerassi has been a professor of chemistry at Stanford University and the president of Syntex Laboratories in Mexico City, Mexico, and later in Palo Alto, California. He later started a company called Zoecon, which used modified insect growth hormones to control fleas and other insect pests. Zoecon flourished for a few decades and then was bought and swallowed by Occidental Petroleum: for a few years, Djerassi was on the board of directors of Occidental Petroleum. Zoecon's products were widely sold in the 1980's, but after 1990 had become hard to find. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in Stanford, California. ... Location of Palo Alto within Santa Clara County, California. ... Families Tungidae â€“ sticktight and chigoe fleas (chiggers) Pulicidae â€“ common fleas Coptopsyllidae Vermipsyllidae â€“ carnivore fleas Rhopalopsyllidae â€“ marsupial fleas Hypsophthalmidae Stephanocircidae Pygiopsyllidae Hystrichopsyllidae â€“ rat and mouse fleas Leptopsyllidae â€“ mouse and rat fleas Ischnopsyllidae â€“ bat fleas Ceratophyllidae:-fleas mainly associated with rodents Amphipsyllidae Malacopsyllidae Dolichopsyllidae â€“ rodent fleas Ctenopsyllidae Flea is the common name...

The Syntex connection made him a rich man. With his wealth, he bought a large tract of land in Woodside, California, started a cattle ranch, and also built up a large art collection. His next-door neighbor was the musician Neil Young, whose band could sometimes be heard rehearsing from a few miles away. Woodside (pop. ... Neil Percival Young[1] OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director from Winnipeg, Manitoba. ...

With his second wife, Norma Lundholm, he had a son, Dale, who is a documentary filmmaker; and a daughter, Pamela, who grew up to become an artist. After Pamela's suicide in 1978, he founded the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (DRAP) in her memory. Djerassi is currently married to biographer and Stanford professor emerita Diane Middlebrook. They live in San Francisco and London. Diane (Wood) Middlebrook (born 1939) is an American biographer, poet and teacher. ...

Djerassi had been a leading collector of the works of Paul Klee. His pieces are frequently exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, to which he has bequeathed his entire Klee collection. (One Klee show at SFMOMA, ca 1990, which was drawn exclusively from Djerassi's collection, filled several large galleries: most of the exhubition space on the museum's second floor.) He stopped collecting when he founded DRAP, because he decided he'd rather patronize living artists than dead ones—or rather the art dealers and auctioneers who are the only beneficiaries of the immense appreciation in the value of works by dead artists. Dead visual artists get no royalties. Books, movies, and music earn royalties, which usually are shared with their creators, although publishers often get the lion's share. Art works can be copyrighted, but there is little money in them: Collectors pay millions of dollars for original works, but prints and photographs are not often published.^{[citation needed]} Paul Klee (IPA: kleː) (December 18, 1879 to June 29, 1940) was a Swiss painter of German nationality. ... San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2004). ...

After his daughter's death, he and Middlebrook visited Florence and looked at the art works commissioned by the Medici. Middlebrook asked him what would have happened if they had supported women artists as well as men? It was too late to help Pamela, but many other artists need what she needed: a place to work, fellow artists to share their work with, a partner who was not consumed by a medical school residency. Mentors who are not always many miles away. He makes these things possible for new generations of artists. Perhaps it beats sitting in Christie's and waving a paddle at the auctioneer, and spending his considerable fortune to buy a few more "lots" at record prices. DRAP has works exhibited by artists who made them there; other works go out and are performed around the world. Artists have married there; a baby was born there; artists have done their best work there. He has found a way to patronize the living and let the dead rest in peace. Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... The Medici coat of arms The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. ... Christies Auction Room in London circa 1808. ...

Djerassi closed down the cattle ranch: converted the barn and the houses to residential and work space for a number of artists of many kinds, brought in a prize-winning chef, and moved to a building he had renovated in San Francisco, where he occupies one floor as a turn-of-the-millennium salon. He also bought a home in London. Djerassi and Middlebrook alternate between hemispheres about once a year.

Social impact of scientific work

Djerassi anticipated the social impact of the pill. He perceived the pill as having a huge impact on the social processes of women and men, which to a significant extent is influenced through the sociobiology of sexual reproduction. He anticipated a far more social impact on men than on women, in what he called as the feminization of men, implying the "Social-feminization" of laws and social values in favour of women in society as a whole. Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that explains behaviour in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviours. ...   Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that results in increasing genetic diversity of the offspring. ... This article is about law in society. ... Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies or actions. ...

Awards and honors

He was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Nixon, for his work on the Pill. As he reported in his memoir, he was on the White House "enemies list" at the time. National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Nixons Enemies List is the informal name of what started as a list of the Nixon administrations major political opponents compiled by Charles Colson and sent in memorandum form to John Dean on September 9, 1971. ...

In 1978, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1991, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for "his broad technological contributions to solving environmental problems; and for his initiatives in developing novel, practical approaches to insect control products that are biodegradable and harmless." The National Inventors Hall of Fame is an organization that honors important inventors from the United States. ... The National Medal of Technology is an honor granted by the President of the United States to inventors and innovators that have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology. ...

Austria has issued a postage stamp with Djerassi's picture on it. The Austrian government also sent him a new Austrian passport. It is likely that Djerassi gave up his Austrian citizenship when he became a U.S. citizen, but after he received the new passport, he definitely had dual citizenship. A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... For other types of travel document, see Travel document. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... Multiple citizenship is simultaneous citizenship in two or more countries (whether it is recognized by all countries or not). ...

Prof. Djerassi is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists^[3] and is chairman of the Pharmanex Scientific Advisory Board.^[4] Cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists with the famous Doomsday Clock set at seven minutes to midnight. ... Nu Skin Enterprises (also referred to as NSE) NYSE: NUS is an American multi-level marketing organization, which sells cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and Internet-based services. ...

Books

Non-fiction

Djerassi is one of the few authors to publish multiple autobiographies, along with Joan Baez and Dory Previn. At least two appear in this list: Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ... Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941) is an American folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style. ... Dory Previn née Langdon (born 22 October 1925) is an American singer-songwriter and poet, and was a lyricist for motion picture theme songs during the 1960s and early 1970s, including the soundtrack to the Valley of the Dolls. ...

• Optical Rotatory Dispersion, McGraw-Hill & Company, 1960.
• The Politics of Contraception, W H Freeman & Company, 1981, ISBN 0-7167-1342-X
• Steroids Made it Possible (Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams), American Chemical Society, 1990, ISBN 0-8412-1773-4 (autobiography)
• The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degas' Horse, Basic Books, 1992, ISBN 0-465-05758-6 (autobiography)
• From the Lab into The World: A Pill for People, Pets, and Bugs, American Chemical Society, 1994, ISBN 0-8412-2808-6
• Paul Klee: Masterpieces of the Djerassi Collection, (coeditor), Prestel Publishing, 2002, ISBN 3-7913-2779-8
• Dalla pillola alla penna, Di Renzo Editore, 2004, ISBN 8883230868
• This Man's Pill: Reflections on the 50th Birthday of the Pill , Oxford University Press, USA, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860695-8 (memoir)

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a learned society (professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. ...

Fiction

• Futurist and Other Stories, Macdonald, 1989, ISBN 0-356-17500-6
• The Clock Runs Backwards, Story Line Press, 1991, ISBN 0-934257-75-2
• Marx, Deceased, University of Georgia Press, 1996, ISBN 0-8203-1835-3

Science-in-fiction

Djerassi invented the genre called "Science-in-Fiction" to portray the lives of real scientists, with all their accomplishments, conflicts, and aspirations. It is not "Science fiction," set in the far future: it is about real people, living in our world now.

• Cantor's Dilemma, Penguin, 1989, ISBN 0-14-014359-9
• The Bourbaki Gambit, Penguin, 1994, ISBN 0-14-025485-4
• Menachem's Seed, Penguin, 1996, ISBN 0-14-027794-3
• NO, Penguin, 1998, ISBN 0-14-029654-9

Drama

• An Immaculate Misconception: Sex in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Imperial College Press, 2000, ISBN 1-86094-248-2 (adapted from the novel, Menachem's Seed)
  • L.A. Theatre Works, Audio Theatre Collection CD, 2004, ISBN 1-58081-286-4
• Oxygen, Wiley-VCH, {with Roald Hoffmann, coauthor), 2001, ISBN 3-527-30413-4
• Newton's Darkness: Two Dramatic Views, (with David Pinner, coauthor), Imperial College Press, 2004, ISBN 1-86094-390-X
• Four Jews on Parnassus

Roald Hoffmann (born July 18, 1937 as Roald Safran --- Hoffmann is the surname of his stepfather) is an American theoretical chemist of Polish-Jewish origin. ...

External links

• Personal website
• Video of Carl Djerassi at the Peoples Archive (Carl Djerassi, telling his life story)
• Extended biography
• Djerassi Resident Artists Program

The Peoples Archive [sic] is a website which has videos of notable persons telling their life stories. ...

Bibliography

• Marks, Lara V (2004). Sexual Chemistry: A History Of The Contraceptive Pill. Diane Publishing Company. ISBN 0-300-08943-0. 
• Tone, Andrea (2001). Devices and Desires. New York: Hill and Wang, A Division of Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. ISBN 0-8090-3817-X. 

References

1. ^ Djerassi, Carl (May 1, 1990). Steroids Made It Possible. An American Chemical Society Publication, 205. ISBN 0-8412-1773-4. 
2. ^ Djerassi, Carl (April 1992). The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degas' Horse. Basic Books, 336. ISBN 0-465-05759-4. 
3. ^ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
4. ^ Carl Djerassi, Ph.D.. Pharmanews. Phamanex. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.