Theodor Svedberg

Theodor 'The' Svedberg was born on August 30, 1884, in Valbo, Gävleborg. Educated at Uppsala University, he was appointed Professor of Physical Chemistry in 1912, dedicating his laboratory to the physical investigation of colloids, Brownian motion, and proteins.

In 1924, Svedberg invented the optical analytical ultracentrifuge, generating centrifugal forces exceeding 100,000 times gravity. By observing the sedimentation velocity of macromolecules, he proved for the first time that proteins like hemoglobin are discrete, pure molecules with fixed molecular weights rather than polydisperse mixtures, establishing the experimental foundation of molecular biology. Awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, his name is commemorated in the sedimentation coefficient unit (the Svedberg, S).