The world changed dramatically a month after I was born.  No, not because I was born- but because Dr. Carl Djerassi found a way (with his colleague Dr. George Rosenkranz and Luis E. Miramontes, a grad student) to produce norethindrone, a synthetic version of progestrin on 15 October 1951 (which also happens to be the first day of the Jewish festival of Sukot). (Interestingly, this synthetic compound was derived from my favorite vegetable- the yam or sweet potato.)  And, progestrin is fundamental to what we now know as ‘the pill’ (contraceptives).

You should also notice that it took another nine (9) years before the pill became commercially available- and that wasn’t Djerassi’s.  Enovid developed by G. D. Searle got that first nod.  (Djerassi’s version, Norinyl,  was approved shortly thereafter.)

Djerassi was a refugee from Hitler’s Europe (he was born in Vienna, Austria) at the age of 16.   He earned his degree in Chemistry from Kenyon (Ohio) at the age of 19, followed by his Ph.D. granted by Wisconsin.  (Djerassi first started his doctoral work at Brooklyn Poly, one of my alma maters.) Djerassi went on to join Syntex (officially called Laboratorios Syntex SA, before it was acquired by Roche in 1994), one of the marketers of the pill.

Djerassi didn’t stop his developments there, either.  He was a pioneer in the development of insect control, invented the first commercial antihistamine while at Ciba (and going to Brooklyn Poly), served as a chemistry professor- and was an author of many books and plays.  Djerassi managed to amass some 1200 publications during his lifetime.  Even more afield- he founded an artist colony, converting part of his California ranch to that purpose.

By the way, Dr. Djerassi refused the moniker “father of the pill”, because he felt that slighted the efforts of others who helped bring about the oral contraceptive (such as Drs. Gregory Pincus and John Rock)- and because he knew that all scientific and technological developments are dependent upon the contributions of others. Nevertheless, the pill was a key factor in the sexual revolution that changed the world.

Most importantly, the pill afforded women the ability to join and expand their vistas in the marketplace, since they could delay- or time- the ability to have children to meet their personal needs. (It is only recently that pregnancy – and/or children in the home-  would no longer serve as barriers for women in the marketplace.)

Besides working as a researcher for Syntex, Djerassi became its president in 1959.  By 1968, he left and founded Zoecon, which is where he pioneered the use of (insect) growth hormones to preclude the maturation of insects from pupae or larvae into adult pests.

Dr. Djerassi received the National Medal of Science (highest US scientific honor) in 1973 and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1991.  This pioneer and renaissance man passed away Friday at the age of 91.

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