Carl Djerassi

Carl Djerassi (October 29, 1923 to January 30, 2015) was a Vienna-born chemist who emigrated to the United States and became an American citizen. In 1951, working at the Mexican pharmaceutical company Syntex, he led the team that synthesized norethisterone, the first orally active synthetic progestin, a compound that became a key ingredient of the first combined oral contraceptive pill and earned him lasting recognition as one of the fathers of the birth control pill. Beyond his chemistry, Djerassi later became a prolific novelist and playwright, using fiction to explore the culture and ethics of science.