--- description: Tu Youyou is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Tu Youyou: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63b87cbe96b5730/698a0af2096a94c8976a7ccd/social-1979_Tu-Youyou.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1979: Tu Youyou Mar 5, 2020 11:38 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Bijou Karman for TIME; Paul U. Unschuld by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:38 AM CUT [Tu Youyou](https://time.com/collection-post/4298237/tu-youyou-2016-time-100/ "undefined")’s first triumph over an infectious disease was her recovery from tuberculosis as a teenager, an experience that inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. History will remember her for her role in discovering artemisinin, a drug that has prevented millions of deaths from malaria. Artemisinin is derived from sweet wormwood, a plant used in traditional Chinese remedies. Tu has described her team’s findings, published in English in 1979, as “a gift from traditional Chinese medicine to the world.” The discovery earned her a Nobel Prize and won humanity important ground in the battle against one of history’s deadliest diseases. _—Melinda Gates_ _Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/tu-youyou-1979-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793656/tu-youyou-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793656/tu-youyou-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1979: Tu Youyou","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:38:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:25.486Z","description":"Tu Youyou is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793656/tu-youyou-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year","Women of the Year - Tech/Athletes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63b87cbe96b5730/698a0af2096a94c8976a7ccd/social-1979_Tu-Youyou.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc63b87cbe96b5730/698a0af2096a94c8976a7ccd/social-1979_Tu-Youyou.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1979 Tu-Youyou","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793656/tu-youyou-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1979: Tu Youyou"}}]}] ```