Severo Ochoa (1905–1993): The man behind RNA

摘要

Ochoa, the youngest of seven children, was born in Luarca, Spain, on 24 September 1905. His namesake and father, Severo Ochoa, was a lawyer-businessman who suffered an early death of unknown cause. This meant that the young boy, his mother and his six siblings needed to find a new life and home in Málaga, Spain. Although the tragedy and relocation were difficult for the family, many believe that this early challenge helped to spark Ochoa’s independent passion for education and learning. He mastered French mostly by himself and spent his younger years trying to help the family, given the health problems of his widowed mother. Ochoa’s early education remains under debate: some sources, including the Nobel Prize biography, report that he was educated at Málaga College and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921, at the age of 17. However, other sources say that the school Ochoa attended was actually a high school and that a misunderstanding had originated from its Spanish name (Instituto de Bachillerato de Málaga).