A Doctor in Chemical Sciences and professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of La Laguna, he has contributed important discoveries to the field of bio-organic chemistry, opening up new lines of research for other scientists. His work in determining the structure of numerous isolated compounds in plants and marine organisms is especially important.
Antonio González González was born in Realejo Alto, Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1917. He received his secondary education and obtained his degree in chemical sciences in La Laguna, subsequently reading for his doctoral thesis in Madrid, with a grant from the Tenerife Island Council.
In 1946, he sat the selection examination for, and obtained the chair of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of La Laguna. A year later he began his research into natural compounds obtained from the flora of the Canaries.
In 1949, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) created an organic chemistry section at the University of La Laguna and Antonio González was appointed as director. Upon his return to Spain he was appointed dean of the Science Faculty of La Laguna, a post he was to occupy until 1957.
In 1959 he won the "Alfonso X the Wise" research prize for his work "4, 4, 14 Trimethylsteroids of the Euforbias of the Canaries and Spanish West Africa," and the following year he did the study "Steroids of the Scophulariceas and Sonchus of the Canaries," with a grant from the Juan March Foundation.
In 1963 he was appointed as director of the Chemical Research Institution; from then until 1968 he held the post of Rector of the University of La Laguna.
Among other decorations, Antonio González hold the Commendation with Plaque of Alfonso X el Sabio, the Grand Cross of Alfonso X el Sabio, the Grand Cross for Civic Merit and the gold medal of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics and Chemistry.
He is a numerary member of the Royal Academy of Natural, Physical and Exact Sciences, and corresponding member of the Society of Pharmacy of Peru. In 1977 he was appointed senator by King Juan Carlos. The University of La Laguna distinguished him by appointment as honourary rector. The scientific and teaching activity of Antonio González has been most intense. He has published more than 500 research works in Spain and abroad, has directed more than 130 doctoral thesis and has trained up nearly a hundred teachers, researchers and industrial technicians. He has likewise given lectures in Mexico, England, Colombia, Italy, Brazil, Chile, Australia, Poland, Peru and Argentina.
Among his outstanding scientific studies are those referring to natural products extracted from higher forms of plant life of the Canary Islands, Iberian Peninsula and Latin-American countries (Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, principally), as well as those from marine organisms, algas and invertebrates gathered in the Canaries. In this field there is the important discovery and study of fourteen new carbonate skeletons, each one opening up a new field in the study of Organic Chemistry. His work on genetic interconversions should also be highlighted, which delved into the formation mechanisms of natural products in plants, and regarding the enzyme transformations of substances of no physiological or chemical interest, obtained during research into natural products, into others of commercial interest.