Tu Youyou was born in Ningbo, a port city in Zhejiang province, China, to a family of intellectuals. Her name, 'Youyou,' was inspired by a line from the Classic of Poetry, signifying the sound of deer calling for each other, reflecting her parents' hopes for a peaceful life for her.

As a teenager, Tu Youyou contracted tuberculosis, a serious illness at the time. This experience significantly impacted her, leading her to focus on the study of medicine and finding cures for diseases. The illness temporarily interrupted her education.

Tu Youyou enrolled at Peking University in Beijing. She initially intended to study pharmacy but was redirected to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, where she specialized in phytochemistry (the study of chemicals derived from plants). This decision would later prove crucial to her research on artemisinin.

Tu Youyou graduated from Peking University with a degree in pharmaceutical sciences, equipped with a solid foundation in chemistry, botany, and plant identification – essential skills for her future research on traditional Chinese medicine and the search for malaria cures.