By — Andrew Mach Andrew Mach Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/father-pill-carl-djerassi-dies-91 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Carl Djerassi, a creator of the birth control pill, dies at 91 Health Feb 1, 2015 4:39 PM EDT Dr. Carl Djerassi, the scientist who has been called one of the many fathers of the birth control pill, died Friday. He was 91. Djerassi, who had been ill from complications due to bone and liver cancer, died “peacefully and surrounded by loved ones” at his home in San Francisco, a Stanford University spokesman said in a post on the university’s website. It was Djerassi, along with two colleagues, who patented the key ingredient that led to the development of the oral contraceptive in 1951. He was also instrumental in creating the first commercial antihistamines in the 1940s. “Carl Djerassi was first and foremost a great scientist. Together with his colleagues, he transformed the world by making oral contraception effective,” Stanford President John Hennessy said. “Later in life, he became a great supporter of artists and a playwright whose plays entertained while they also educated.” While he wrote more than 1,200 scientific articles throughout his career, Djerassi also found success as a novelist, poet and playwright. He wrote five novels, four of which he described as “science-in-fiction,” which portrayed the lives of real scientists. His plays were, too, often incorporated the life and achievements of scientists and scientific advancements, and some of his poems also reflected his life as a chemist. “You can become an intellectual smuggler by packaging the truth in a fictional context,” Djerassi said. “If it’s exciting enough, they’ll learn something.” Djerassi, who was Jewish, was born in Vienna and later fled with his mother to Bulgaria at the start of World War II. In 1939, they emigrated to the United States Djerassi is survived by his son, stepdaughter and grandson. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Andrew Mach Andrew Mach Andrew Mach is a former Digital Editor for PBS NewsHour in New York City, where he manages the online editorial direction of the national broadcast's weekend edition. Formerly, Mach was a news editor and staff writer for NBC News. He's also written for the Christian Science Monitor in Boston and had stints at ABC News, the Washington Post and German network ZDF in Berlin, in addition to reporting for an investigative journalism project in Phoenix. Mach was a recipient of the 2016 Kiplinger Fellowship, the 2015 RIAS German/American Exchange fellowship by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation and the 2012 Berlin Capital Program Fulbright. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a native of Aberdeen, South Dakota. @andrewjmach
Dr. Carl Djerassi, the scientist who has been called one of the many fathers of the birth control pill, died Friday. He was 91. Djerassi, who had been ill from complications due to bone and liver cancer, died “peacefully and surrounded by loved ones” at his home in San Francisco, a Stanford University spokesman said in a post on the university’s website. It was Djerassi, along with two colleagues, who patented the key ingredient that led to the development of the oral contraceptive in 1951. He was also instrumental in creating the first commercial antihistamines in the 1940s. “Carl Djerassi was first and foremost a great scientist. Together with his colleagues, he transformed the world by making oral contraception effective,” Stanford President John Hennessy said. “Later in life, he became a great supporter of artists and a playwright whose plays entertained while they also educated.” While he wrote more than 1,200 scientific articles throughout his career, Djerassi also found success as a novelist, poet and playwright. He wrote five novels, four of which he described as “science-in-fiction,” which portrayed the lives of real scientists. His plays were, too, often incorporated the life and achievements of scientists and scientific advancements, and some of his poems also reflected his life as a chemist. “You can become an intellectual smuggler by packaging the truth in a fictional context,” Djerassi said. “If it’s exciting enough, they’ll learn something.” Djerassi, who was Jewish, was born in Vienna and later fled with his mother to Bulgaria at the start of World War II. In 1939, they emigrated to the United States Djerassi is survived by his son, stepdaughter and grandson. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now