Sir Walter Norman Haworth (March 19, 1883 – March 19, 1950) was a British chemist who is best known for his groundbreaking work on ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

He received the 1937 Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C". The prize was shared with Swiss chemist Paul Karrer for his work on other vitamins.

He decided to attend university and study chemistry after working for some time in a linoleum factory run by his father. He made this decision in spite of the strong disapproval of his parents.

In 1934, working with British chemist Sir Edmund Hirst , he was able to synthesize vitamin C, in fact the first ever synthesized.

The Haworth projection, a simple way for representing chemical structures in three dimensions, is named after him.

He died on March 19, 1950, which was his 67th birthday, two years after being knighted.

External link

• Walter Haworth's biography at the Nobel Prize Web Site