Albert Szent-Györgyi

Born in Budapest, Albert Szent-Györgyi's early life was, shall we say, a family affair with science. His mother's father, József Lenhossék, and uncle, Mihály Lenhossék, were both professors of anatomy, practically guaranteeing young Albert a head start, or at least a highly informed dinner conversation. It seems the apple, or perhaps the orange, didn't fall far from the tree.

Szent-Györgyi's most notable achievement, discovering vitamin C and isolating ascorbic acid, has probably saved more sailors from scurvy than all the British naval expeditions combined. He also made significant contributions to understanding the citric acid cycle, a metabolic pathway so fundamental that even your houseplant uses it. It's hard to argue with a man who literally put the "C" in "science."

While his contributions to biochemistry were immense, Albert Szent-Györgyi was also a man of, let's say, "varied interests." He actively resisted the Nazis during WWII, and later, the communists, which suggests a certain stubborn adherence to what he believed was right, regardless of the prevailing political winds. He might not have been a Jew, but he certainly knew how to kvetch about injustice, which, in our book, counts for something. And speaking of which, vitamin C also happens to be pretty good for boosting the immune system.