Developer of birth control pill dies at 91
Print Edition
Carl Djerassi, an Austrian-born chemist who helped to develop the birth control pill before becoming a playwright and novelist, has died in San Francisco at the age of 91.
Djerassi, professor emeritus at Stanford University, was the leader of a team of researchers in Mexico City who synthesized a derivative of the hormone progesterone in a form that women could take orally. The breakthrough in 1951 became the basis of some of the first pills to prevent pregnancy.
“The pill” as it became known in popular culture has been credited with fueling a radical shift in sexual mores and changing the role of women in Western society.
Djerassi was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1973 for his contribution.
But by the time of his death Djerassi had left science behind and was well into his second career as a novelist and playwright. Beginning in the 1980s, he wrote about 20 books including “This Man’s Pill”, a memoir, and novels such as “Cantor’s Dilemma.”
“I’m sick and tired of talking about the pill,” Djerassi told the San Francisco Chronicle four months ago.
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