Ragnar Arthur Granit was a distinguished Finnish-Swedish neurophysiologist whose pioneering work fundamentally advanced our understanding of visual processes. Born on October 30, 1900, in the parish of Helsinge, Finland, to Swedish parents, he completed his medical studies at the University of Helsinki where he later became Professor of Physiology in 1935. During the Winter War between Finland and Russia, Granit served as district physician for Swedish-speaking island parishes in the Baltic while attending to military forts in the region. His scientific career took a significant turn in 1940 when he sought refuge in Stockholm due to the Soviet attack on Finland, eventually receiving Swedish citizenship in 1941 which allowed him to continue his research uninterrupted during the Continuation War.
Granit's groundbreaking research focused on the physiological mechanisms of color vision, with his most notable discoveries emerging during his time at Helsinki University in the 1930s. He and a colleague developed an exceptionally thin electrode capable of registering signals from individual neurons in the frog retina, enabling him to demonstrate that different retinal cells are selectively sensitive to specific light wavelengths. His experimental evidence revealed how the eye transmits color information to the brain through specialized cone cells, each sensitive to different wavelengths of light. Granit further demonstrated that illumination of the eye not only stimulates but also inhibits impulses along the optic nerve, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of visual processing mechanisms in the retina.
After establishing his reputation as a leading vision researcher, Granit made a significant transition in the late 1940s, shifting his focus to the neurophysiology of motor control while continuing his professorship at the Karolinska Institute. His department was eventually incorporated into the Medical Nobel Institute, where he built another successful research environment that mapped neural pathways controlling movement. In recognition of his seminal contributions to visual physiology, Granit was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1967 alongside Haldan Keffer Hartline and George Wald. Throughout his career, he maintained homes in both Finland and Sweden, proudly embracing his dual heritage while leaving an enduring legacy as a fifty-fifty Finnish and Swedish Nobel laureate whose work continues to inform contemporary neuroscience.
