The character arc of Giulia Enders

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born in 1990 in Mannheim. Between then and now sit a doctoral programme in gastroenterology at Goethe University Frankfurt, a Science Slam talk in 2012, Darm mit Charme on 10 March 2014, the English edition in 2015, over two million German copies sold, the Helmut Fischer Prize in 2016 and the Heinz Oberhummer Award in 2017. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Giulia Enders?

A five minute talk became a book.

She was born in Mannheim in 1990 and entered a doctoral programme in gastroenterology at Goethe University Frankfurt. In 2012, still a student, she stood up at a Science Slam, which is a competition where researchers have a few minutes to explain their work to a room of strangers, and talked about the human gut.

The talk travelled. What made it work was not simplification but nerve: she took the least glamorous organ in the body, the one nobody wants discussed at dinner, and explained what it actually does with enough charm and precision that a general audience sat still for it.

Darm mit Charme was published on 10 March 2014 and sold more than two million copies in Germany, which for a first book by an unknown doctoral student is an extraordinary number. The English edition, Gut, followed in 2015, and the book went out in many other languages. It explains the functions of the gastrointestinal tract and questions how much hygiene a body actually needs. She received the Helmut Fischer Prize for science communication in 2016 and the Heinz Oberhummer Award in 2017. She was twenty four when the book came out.

The moments

Giulia Enders's timeline.

The 2000s

Oct 2009

Medicine in Frankfurt

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A medical student in Frankfurt, and nothing else yet.

The 2010s

Jun 2012

A science slam

Milestone, and it changed everything. A few minutes on a stage, as a student, explaining the gut to strangers.

1 Jun 2013

Finish the doctorate, or write

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: write the book, taken, or keep to the doctorate. The book sold more than two million copies in Germany alone and went out in many languages.

10 Mar 2014

Darm mit Charme

Milestone, and it changed everything. A first book by an unknown doctoral student, at twenty four.

Apr 2015

Two million copies

Milestone, and it changed everything. Two million copies in one country, for a book about the gut.

14 May 2015

Gut, in English

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Out of German, and then into a great many other languages.

Jun 2016

The Helmut Fischer Prize

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A prize for explaining science, rather than for doing it.

Jun 2017

The Oberhummer Award

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A second communication prize in two years.

~2018

The hygiene question

Milestone. The least glamorous organ in the body, explained so a general reader would sit still for it.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is millions of people understanding a part of their own body they had never thought about, explained by somebody who was still a student when she started.

What she wrote

Books by Giulia Enders

2014
Darm mit Charme
Her first book, written as a doctoral student. More than two million copies sold in Germany alone.
2015
Gut
The English edition of the same book, on what the gastrointestinal tract actually does and how much hygiene a body needs.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

Hers began with five minutes on a stage while she was still a student. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

Draw my own line Explore Character Arc

Giulia Enders: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Giulia Enders' character arc?

A doctoral student in gastroenterology who stood up at a science slam in 2012 and explained the human gut to a room of strangers, then turned it into a book that sold more than two million copies in Germany alone.

What is Gut by Giulia Enders?

Her book, published in German as Darm mit Charme on 10 March 2014 and in English as Gut in 2015. It explains what the gastrointestinal tract does and questions how much hygiene a body actually needs.

How old was Giulia Enders when Gut was published?

Twenty four. She was born in 1990 and was still a doctoral student in gastroenterology at Goethe University Frankfurt when the German edition came out in March 2014. The English edition followed the year after.

What is a science slam, and why does it matter to Giulia Enders?

A competition where researchers have a few minutes to explain their work to a room of strangers. Hers, given in 2012, is where the book began, and it is the single event the whole of her line runs from.

How many copies has Giulia Enders sold?

More than two million in Germany, with international success across many other languages. For a first book by an unknown doctoral student, about an organ nobody wants discussed at dinner, that is a remarkable number.

What prizes has Giulia Enders won?

The Helmut Fischer Prize for science communication in 2016 and the Heinz Oberhummer Award for science communication in 2017. Both are given for explaining science well rather than for the research itself.

Where did Giulia Enders study?

At Goethe University Frankfurt, where she enrolled in a doctoral programme in gastroenterology. She was born in Mannheim in 1990, and the public record does not give a finer birth date than the year.

Where does this timeline of Giulia Enders's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Giulia Enders isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

More character arcs

Lives that rhyme with her.

Every Character, A to Z

Sources

Giulia Enders, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Publisher records for Darm mit Charme, 10 March 2014, and its English edition Gut, 2015.