Famous Argentine Scientists

Alberto Granado was an Argentine-Cuban doctor, biochemist, scientist, and writer. He is credited with establishing the University of Santiago de Cuba School of Medicine. Alberto Granado was also a traveling companion and friend of Che Guevara. His memoir about the 1952 motorcycle tour with Che inspired the 2004 biopic, The Motorcycle Diaries.

Initially a physicist and mathematician, Ernesto Sabato did his postdoctoral research at prestigious institutes such as MIT. His articles opposing the Juan Peron government of Argentina in La Nación got him removed from his teaching posts. The Cervantes Prize-winning author is best remembered for his works such as El Túnel.

Argentine-born physicist Juan Martín Maldacena is best known for his research on topics such as quantum gravity and string theory. The Princeton alumnus has taught at Harvard and now teaches at IAS. His current research focuses on studying the links between quantum field theories and black holes.

Argentine-Canadian philosopher, physicist, and educator Mario Bunge is best remembered for his work on social sciences, metaphysics, and the philosophy of the mind. Part of the school of scientific realism, he had published more than 400 papers and was named to Science magazine’s Science Hall of Fame.

Cesar Milstein was an Argentine biochemist renowned for his work in antibody research. He is credited with developing the Hybridoma technology, a method to produce identical antibodies in large numbers, for which he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984. He also received several other awards, including the Copley Medal in 1989.

British-Argentine author, naturalist, and ornithologist William Henry Hudson not just published a number of ornithological studies but also several novels, such as Green Mansions. He criticized Darwinism and was inspired by Samuel Butler’s writings. He was also part of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Luis Federico Leloir was an Argentine biochemist and physician whose discovery of metabolic pathways in lactose earned him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1970. His research into renal hypertension, carbohydrate metabolism, and sugar nucleotides has led to progress in understanding and treating galactosemia. During his career, he won many awards, such as the Legion of Honour.

Bernardo Houssay was an Argentine physiologist best remembered for winning the 1947 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine and becoming the first Argentine Nobel Prize winner in the field of sciences. Bernardo Houssay won the award for discovering the role of the pituitary hormones in regulating the amount of glucose in animals. 

Best remembered for his fight against American trypanosomiasis, Salvador Mazza had to face governmental apathy as well as active resistance from powerful quarters while carrying on his research. Yet, he continued with his mission, setting up his first laboratory in a railway car in Argentina’s underdeveloped north, eventually forcing the South American medical community to accept the validity of trypanosomiasis.