Arthur Harden

Born in Manchester in 1865, Arthur Harden became one of the key figures in early biochemistry. He studied at Owens College and in Erlangen, then built a career that combined teaching with laboratory research. Over time he became closely associated with the Lister Institute, where much of his most important experimental work was carried out.

Harden is remembered above all for his studies of alcoholic fermentation in yeast. Working on the chemical steps behind the process, he helped show that fermentation depended on specific enzyme actions and important small phosphate-containing compounds. That work earned him the 1929 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shared with Hans von Euler-Chelpin.

He was also active in shaping biochemistry as a field, serving as a founding member of the Biochemical Society and editing its journal for many years. Knighted in 1939, he died the following year in 1940, leaving behind a reputation for careful, influential research that connected chemistry with the living cell.