Masterton

Here is the story of an ordinary man who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000. Alan G. MacDiarmid was born in Masterton, a town in the Wellington region of New Zealand, in 1927. As he wanted to have the right to vote in US elections, he became a naturalized United States citizen.

But, let's start the story from the beginning: Alan's family was very poor, his father was an unemployed engineer because of the Great Depression that hit New Zealand in the early 1930s.

That's why they decided to move to Lower Hutt a few miles from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. With his parents, his two brothers and two sisters they were a very close, loving family. Even though they didn't have a lot of food, his mother was always inviting less fortunate people to their meals.

On such occasions, his older brother and sister used to remind him not to ask for more food at the table by saying to him "FHB", the abbreviation of "Family Hold Back", that is "don't eat too much!".

During much of his time at grade school he had an early morning, pre-school job delivering milk on his bicycle for a man called Mr. Bradley, who had a few cows in a nearby paddock. But when he started high school it was necessary to give up this job. When his father retired and moved away from Wellington, he left Hutt Valley and took a low-paid job in the chemistry department at Victoria University College.

He was a part-time student too and became a resident at Weir House, the University dormitory for men. He really enjoyed this period of his life, above all because he made many good friends, with some of whom he still keeps in close contact.

After completing his degree he graduated to the position of demonstrator. His interest in chemistry began at the age of 10, when he found one of his father's old chemistry books. He spent hours reading it, evidently confused but with burning curiosity too! In 1950, he received a fellowship from the U.S. State Department to do a PhD at the University of Wisconsin, in the USA.

From that moment, he started a brilliant carrier in the field of chemistry and he eventually won the Nobel Prize in Stockholm in 2000.

Thanks to Stefania Ariu from Cagliari, Italy for kindly preparing this podcard.