Alexander Oparin
Soviet biochemist (1894-1980) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexander Ivanovich Oparin [1] (Uglich, Russia, 2 March [O.S. 18 February] 1894 – Moscow, 21 April 1980) was a Soviet biochemist.
Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Alexander Oparin | |
---|---|
Born | (1894-03-02)March 2, 1894 Uglich, Russian Empire |
Died | April 21, 1980(1980-04-21) (aged 86) |
Nationality | Russian |
Citizenship | Soviet Union |
Alma mater | Moscow State University |
Known for | Theory of the origin of life |
Awards | Hero of Socialist Labour (1969) Lenin Prize (1974) Lomonosov Gold Medal (1979) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biochemistry |
Institutions | Moscow State University USSR Academy of Sciences |
Close
He was notable for his ideas on the origin of life, and for writing an early book The Origin of Life.[2] One of his ideas was that oxygen would tend to destroy organic molecules essential for the evolution of early life. It was later found that the earth's atmosphere at first had almost no oxygen in it.[3][4]
He also studied the biochemistry of plants, and enzyme reactions in plant cells. He developed the foundations for industrial biochemistry in the USSR.[5]