This article provides a glimpse into the dawning of research on chlorophyll–protein complexes and a brief recollection of the path that led us to the identification of the photosystem II reaction center, i.e., the polypeptides that carry the site of primary charge separation in oxygenic photosynthesis. A preliminary version of the personal review on the latter topic has already appeared in this journal (Satoh Photosynth Res 76:233–240, 2003).