我国科学家屠呦呦研究员荣获2015年度诺贝尔奖填补了中国本土科学家在诺贝尔自然科学奖的空白。青蒿素的发现必将在世界科学史上留下一个辉煌的记录，是对我国科学界特别是天然药物工作者的巨大鼓舞。通过对历史文献的总结，回顾了青蒿素的研发历史，表达了对老一辈科学家的衷心敬佩，同时给年青科学工作者以激励。

2015 Nobel Prize was awarded to Professor TU You-you, which fill the gap of Chinese scientists in the Nobel Prize in natural science. The discovery of artemisinin is a brilliant record in the history of science in the world. This is also a great inspiration for scientific community, especially for natural medicine researchers. This paper summarized the historical evolution of artemisinin, expressing the respects to the last generation of scientists and encouraging the younger researchers in this field. This article is one of the series of historical stories on natural product chemistry written by the authors.

河北医科大学教育科学研究重点课题资助项目（2012yb-19，2014yb-21，2016yb-9）；2016年河北医科大学校内科研发展基金（kyfz111）；2012年全国名老中医药专家传承工作室建设项目；河北省中医药管理局计划项目（2015021）