Otto Fritz Meyerhof

Otto Fritz Meyerhof was born on 12 April 1884 in Germany, trained as a physician, then turned to biochemistry when the questions got more interesting than the prescriptions. His research into the metabolic mechanisms of muscle cells — how they burn fuel and manage energy — earned him the Nobel in 1922, a recognition that placed him among the small circle who'd mapped the body's invisible chemistry. He continued working through the interwar years as Europe darkened, then fled when being Jewish and prominent became untenable. He died on 6 October 1951, decades after the prize but still inside th…