CHEMIST

Mária Telkes

1900 - 1995

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Mária Telkes (December 12, 1900 – December 2, 1995) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist, engineer, and inventor who worked on solar energy technologies. She moved to the United States in 1925 to work as a biophysicist. She became an American citizen in 1937 and started work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to create practical uses of solar energy in 1939. During World War II, she developed a solar water distillation device, deployed at the end of the war, which saved the lives of downed airmen and torpedoed sailors. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Mária Telkes is the 256th most popular chemist (down from 240th in 2019), the 133rd most popular biography from Hungary (up from 138th in 2019) and the 5th most popular Hungarian Chemist.

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Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Mária Telkes ranks 256 out of 602Before her are Emil Abderhalden, Jacques Dubochet, Ryōji Noyori, Johan August Arfwedson, Richard Smalley, and Carolyn R. Bertozzi. After her are Ida Noddack, Alfred G. Gilman, Vladimir Markovnikov, Stephanie Kwolek, John Polanyi, and Fritz Strassmann.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1900, Mária Telkes ranks 57Before her are Pridi Banomyong, Pedro Cea, Thomas Wolfe, Howard H. Aiken, Jean Negulesco, and Raphael Lemkin. After her are Charley Paddock, Maurice Thorez, W. Edwards Deming, Herberts Cukurs, Yves Tanguy, and Aaron Copland. Among people deceased in 1995, Mária Telkes ranks 56Before her are Miklós Rózsa, Ștefan Kovács, Ko Takamoro, César Rodríguez Álvarez, James Meade, and Roger Zelazny. After her are Rory Gallagher, John Vincent Atanasoff, Ernest Gellner, Krešimir Ćosić, Carlos Monzón, and Günter Guillaume.

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In Hungary

Among people born in Hungary, Mária Telkes ranks 133 out of 1,077Before her are Ignác Goldziher (1850), Arthur Nikisch (1855), George I Rákóczi (1593), Princess Maria Antonia Koháry (1797), Gyula Grosics (1926), and George II Rákóczi (1621). After her are Gyula Horn (1932), Saint Emeric of Hungary (1000), Gusztáv Jány (1883), Prince Álmos (1070), Saint Margaret of Scotland (1045), and Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872).

Among CHEMISTS In Hungary

Among chemists born in Hungary, Mária Telkes ranks 5Before her are George de Hevesy (1885), Avram Hershko (1937), George Andrew Olah (1927), and Katalin Karikó (1955). After her are Michael Polanyi (1891), and Elizabeth Roboz Einstein (1904).