Eva Saxl
Maker of insulin in Shanghai ghetto
About Eva Saxl
Lived 1920 – 2002 (aged 81–82). Eva Saxl was a Czech.
Eva Saxl (1921–2002) was a self-taught manufacturer of insulin and an advocate for people with Type 1 diabetes. Saxl was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Insulin production In 1940, during World War II, she and her husband, Victor Saxl, fled to Shanghai, China. In Shanghai, a year later, Saxl was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 the Japanese occupation of China was tightened, and soon all the pharmacies in Shanghai were closed. Saxl had no legal access to insulin. It was possible to buy insulin on the black market using one-ounce gold bars for payment. But that was not the safest option; one of Eva's friends died from using the black market insulin.
Eventually, Victor and Eva decided to get insulin another—highly unconventional—way: make it themselves. The book "Beckman's Internal Medicine"
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Important facts
People in Eva Saxl's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Eva Saxl's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Eva Saxl?
maker of insulin in Shanghai ghetto
When was Eva Saxl born?
Eva Saxl was born on 1 April 1920 in Prague.
When did Eva Saxl die?
Eva Saxl died in 2002.
What nationality was Eva Saxl?
Eva Saxl was Czech.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Eva Saxl. https://biography.guide/eva-saxl/
MLA: "Eva Saxl." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/eva-saxl/.
Chicago: "Eva Saxl." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/eva-saxl/.
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