Gertrude Belle Elion, Chemist and Pharmacologist, Discoverer of Highly Relevant Active Substances

Abstract

Gertrude Belle Elion was a woman who had to overcome many difficulties to achieve her dream of studying to be able to cure illnesses, especially those of the heart. These difficulties were imposed both by the limited economic resources of herself and her family, which did not allow her to pay the academic fees of the university in which she wanted to enroll, as well as gender, since she also had to fight against inequalities of that type prevalent in the society of her time. However, and despite these obstacles, she managed to graduate in Chemistry, based on interest, effort and tenacity, and later began a research career full of successes, which led her to discover relevant active substances which allow her to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988. This article presents the most relevant features of her personal and professional life and completes previous biographies about her life. Its main objective is to reintroduce her to society and put her as a reference to other people. The methodology followed has been the search for those data about her life and work that would allow completing the previous existing biographies about her.