Alexander Alekhine vs Dorothy Hodgkin
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Alekhine | Dorothy Hodgkin | |
| Field | Sports | Science |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chemistry |
| Born | 1892 | 1910 |
| Died | 1946 | 1994 |
| Country of birth | France | Egypt |
| Star sign | Scorpio | Taurus |
Who they are
Alexander Alekhine
When Alexander Alekhine arrived in Buenos Aires in September 1927 to challenge José Raúl Capablanca for the World Championship, the chess world expected a formality. Capablanca had not lost a competitive game in eight years. Grandmasters whispered that chess had reached its apex in the Cuban — that the game, played perfectly, would always draw, and that Capablanca was the player who played perfectly. Alekhine, a Russian émigré living in France, was a fine attacking player, perhaps the best combinational talent of his generation, but attacking chess against someone who never made errors was considered…
Full biography of Alexander Alekhine →
Dorothy Hodgkin
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964 — Structures of penicillin, vitamin B12 & insulin X-ray crystallography · Oxford University · Third woman Nobel Chemistry laureate Born May 12, 1910 · Cairo · Died July 29, 1994
Full biography of Dorothy Hodgkin →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Sports for Alexander Alekhine, Science for Dorothy Hodgkin.
- Born in different countries: France and Egypt.
- 18 years separate their births (1892 and 1910).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Alekhine or Dorothy Hodgkin?
- Alexander Alekhine. Alexander Alekhine was born in 1892, Dorothy Hodgkin in 1910.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Alekhine is filed under Sports (Chess). Dorothy Hodgkin is filed under Science (Chemistry).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.