Dorothy Hodgkin vs Edgar Degas
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Dorothy Hodgkin | Edgar Degas | |
| Field | Science | Art |
| Sub-field | Chemistry | Painting |
| Born | 1910 | 1834 |
| Died | 1994 | 1917 |
| Country of birth | Egypt | France |
| Star sign | Taurus | Cancer |
Who they are
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 →
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas was obsessed with movement — the way a dancer's tutu catches the stage light mid-pirouette, the bunched muscle of a racehorse at the starting gate, the tired slump of a laundress pressing a shirt at the end of a long day. He trained his eye like a scientist and his hand like a master draughtsman, then used both to capture modern Paris in moments of arrested motion that feel simultaneously spontaneous and eternally composed. He called himself a Realist. Others called him an Impressionist. He rejected the label but showed in seven of…
Full biography of Edgar Degas →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Science for Dorothy Hodgkin, Art for Edgar Degas.
- Born in different countries: Egypt and France.
- 76 years separate their births (1910 and 1834).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Dorothy Hodgkin or Edgar Degas?
- Edgar Degas. Dorothy Hodgkin was born in 1910, Edgar Degas in 1834.
- What field is each of them in?
- Dorothy Hodgkin is filed under Science (Chemistry). Edgar Degas is filed under Art (Painting).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.