Hans von Euler-Chelpin
| Hans von Euler-Chelpin | |
|---|---|
| File:Hauptmann a. D. Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. h. c. mult. Hans von Euler-Chelpin.jpg Hauptmann d. R. a. D. Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. h. c. mult. Hans von Euler-Chelpin went down in history as a noted biochemist, best known for his work on the role of enzymes in the fermentation of sugar, for which he shared the 1929 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Prof. Dr. Sir Arthur Harden (1865–1940). | |
| Born | Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin 15 February 1873 Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire |
| Died | 6 November 1964 (aged 91) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Nationality | German (1873–1964) Swedish (1902–1964) |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | University of Stockholm |
| Alma mater | University of Munich, University of Berlin |
| Doctoral advisor | Carl Friedheim |
| Other academic advisors | Emil Warburg (physics), Max Planck (physics), Hermann Emil Fischer (chemistry), Arthur Rosenheim |
| Notable awards | Iron Cross Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Nobel Prize for Chemistry |
| Spouse | ∞ 1902 Dr. phil. Astrid Cleve ∞ 1913 Elisabeth Baroness af Ugglas |
Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin (15 February 1873 – 6 November 1964) was a German officer and biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 for his work on the fermentation of sugar and the role of enzymes in this process. In 1902, in order to marry, he took Swedish citizenship, although keeping his German citizenship. In his retirement (1941), he focused on cancer research. In July 1955, he belonged to the 18 first signatories of the declaration of Nobel prize laureates initiated by Otto Hahn and Max Born on the German Island of Mainau (Lake Constance) calling for the leaders of the world to voluntarily relinquish the use of nuclear weapons.
Life
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Biography
- Euler-Chelpin attended schools in Munich, Wurzburg, and Ulm, then from 1891 [other sources state 1892] to 1893 studied art at the Munich Academy of Painting. His concern with the theory of colors caused him to become interested in the spectrum, and he turned his attention to science. Euler-Chelpin enrolled at the then University of Berlin, where he studied physics under Emil Warburg and Max Planck and organic chemistry under Emil Fischer and A. Rosenheim. During the next two years he worked with W. Nernst in Gottingen. In the summer of 1897 he became an assistant to Svante Arrhenius in Stockholm, where he qualified as Privatdozent in physical chemistry at the University of Stockholm in 1898; he spent the summers of 1899 and 1900 with J. H. van't Hoff in Berlin. Until this time Euler-Chelpin had concentrated on physical chemistry, a subject being developed with much enthusiasm in Germany and Sweden. He now turned toward organic chemistry, visiting the laboratories of Arthur Hantzsch at Wurzburg and Leipzig and Johannes Thiele at Strasbourg. He began research in the field at this time, partly in collaboration with his wife. His visits to the laboratories of E. Buchner in Berlin and G. Bertrand in Paris reflected a developing interest in fermentation. He became professor of general and organic chemistry at the University of Stockholm in 1906. All of his remaining professional work was carried out in Sweden, of which country he became a citizen in 1902. Nevertheless, in World War I he reported for service in the German army, serving in the artillery and, after 1915, in the air force. In the winter of 1916-1917 he was assigned to a military mission in Turkey to stimulate production of munitions and alcohol. He then returned to the air force, where he became commander of a bomber squadron. During this period he had an arrangement with the University of Stockholm that permitted him to compress his teaching activities into a half year. During World War II Euler-Chelpin again made himself available to Germany, but in a diplomatic capacity. In 1929 Euler-Chelpin became director of the Vitamin Institute and Institute of Biochemistry founded at the University of Stockholm through the joint support of the Kurt and Alice Wallenburg Foundation and the International Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1941 he retired from teaching but continued his research activities almost to the end of his life. Euler-Chelpin’s early interest in inorganic catalysis was soon transferred to biochemical studies and particularly to the enzymes associated with fermentation. His studies on the chemistry of plants led him to concentrate his interest on those fungi that lend themselves to the study of metabolic problems. His studies on vitamins were not really a diversion; most of this work contributed to the understanding of enzyme cofactors. His late work on cancer was also an extension of his work on enzymes. The work for which Euler-Chelpin received the Nobel Prize in 1929 was closely associated with Buchner’s discovery that cell-free yeast juice was still able to ferment sugar, and the observation by Harden and Young that such juice, when passed through an ultrafilter, was separated into two fractions, neither of which alone had the power to ferment sugar but which on mixing again showed normal fermenting activity. Euler-Chelpin studied the low molecular weight fraction - named cozymase - for more than a decade, starting in 1923. By 1929 he and his associates, particularly K. Myrback and R. Nilsson, had clarified the role of cozymase in fermentation. Harden had shown that phosphoric acid played a role in fermentation by giving rise to certain sugar phosphates. Euler-Chelpin and Nilsson developed the use of inhibitors whereby certain stages in enzyme-catalyzed reactions can be blocked by use of a toxic substance, using fluoride to block that phase of fer-mentation in which cozymase functions. With Myrback, Euler-Chelpin showed that when glucose reacts with phosphoric acid it splits into two three-carbon fragments, one of which remains combined with phosphate. The two other fragments then combine to form glucose diphosphate, while the non- phosphorylated fragment undergoes further degradation. The reaction thereby shows that the sugar molecule undergoing fermentation splits into an energy-rich and an energy-poor fragment. Euler-Chelpin also investigated the chemical nature of cozymase. Although cozymase is widely distributed in the plant and animal world, Euler-Chelpin and his associates found yeast to be the most practical source for its preparation. Starting with a crude extract having 200 units of activity, they concentrated this into a product having a specific activity of 85,000 units. This product corresponded to a nucleotide, containing sugar, a purine base, and a phosphate; it was clearly related to adenylic acid, which had been isolated by others from muscle. When Warburg showed nicotinamide to be a cofactor in erythrocytes, Euler-Chelpin tested for nicotinamide in cozymase with positive results. Soon thereafter Euler-Chelpin, Fritz Schlenk, and their co-workers showed the chemical structure of cozymase to be that of diphos- phopyridine nucleotide (DPN). In his work on vitamins, Euler-Chelpin assisted in clarifying the role of nicotinamide and thiamine (Bt) in metabolically active compounds. Somewhat earlier, in association with the Swiss chemist Paul Karrer, he had helped clarify the vitamin A activity of the carotenoid pigments. His work on tumors dealt particularly with the role of nucleic acids.[1]
Military and wars
Hans von Euler-Chelpin completed his mandatory military service with the Royal Bavarian Army as a one-year volunteer (Einjährig-Freiwilliger) with the Königlich Bayerisches 1. Feldartillerie-Regiment „Prinzregent Luitpold“ from c. 1890 to 1891.
WWI
At the beginning of WWI, and because Sweden was not involved (following its long-standing policy of neutrality since the Napoleonic Wars), Vizewachtmeister (NCO) Prof. Dr. von Euler-Chelpin volunteered for military service with the Bavarian Army subordinated to the Imperial German Army. He returned to his field artillery regiment, fulfilling his teaching obligations for six months of the year and military service for the remaining six. On 27 November 1914 with Patent from 18 August 1914, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant of the Reserves.[2] At the end of 1915, he transferred from the artillery to the Luftstreitkräfte and was trained to be an observer. He served at the Eastern Front with the Flieger-Abteilung 1 (FA 1).
On 26 October 1916, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant of the Reserves with Patent from 27 September 1916. In the winter of 1916–1917, he took part in a mission to the Ottoman Empire (Deutsche Militärmission), a German ally during World War I, to accelerate the production of munitions and alcohol. At the end of 1917, he returned to the front. On 16 March 1918, he received a new Patent as Oberleutnant d. R. from 19 May 1915.[3] He served with the Bomberstaffel 27 b (Bosta 27 b). His pilot (Friedrichshafen and AEG aircraft) would become Josef Oechsle (1895–1948), who had also come from von Euler-Chelpin's Bavarian artillery regiment. For some time, von Euler-Chelpin was named squadron leader (Staffelführer). On 30 June 1918, he was promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) of the Reserves.[4]
WWII
During the Second World War, he worked in a diplomatic mission for the German Reich. Details are unknown, but it can be assumed that he acted as a link between the Reich and the neutral states, especially Sweden.
Memberships (excerpt)
- Member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
- Foreign Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences
- Member of the Lincean Academy
- Member of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin
- Member of the Indian Academy of Sciences
- Member of the Italian Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
- Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna
- Member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences
- Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters
- Member of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge
- Member of the Society of Sciences in Helsinki
- Member of the Academy of Sciences in Helsinki
- Member of the Academy of Sciences in Copenhagen
- Member of the Leningrad Academy of Sciences
With dates
- Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1914)
- Member of the Society of Natural Scientists Leopoldina (1922)[5]
- Member of the Society of Sciences at Göttingen (1925)
- Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences (1925)
- External scientific member of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biochemistry Berlin and Tübingen (July 1925–1948)
- Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1927)
- Member of the German Academy of Aviation Research in Berlin (1936–1945)
- Member of the Reich Association of Sweden and Germany (1937)
- The Riksföreningen Sverige-Tyskland was a very germanophile fascist academic association in Sweden with 5,689 members, among them Ivar Broman, Gottfrid Carlsson, Efraim Liljequist, Herman Nilsson-Ehle, Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (father of Max von Sydow), Sune Bergström, Carl Milles, Hjalmar Frisk, Verner von Heidenstam, Sven Hedin Karl Olivecrona, Hialmar Rendahl and Ivar Tengbom.
- Corresponding Member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences (1942)
- Corresponding Member of the Académie des sciences de l’Institut de France
- Scientific member of the Max Planck Society (1948)
Family
Hans came from an old Bavarian officer family whose origins can be traced back to the old island and imperial city (Reichsstadt of the HRR) of Lindau and the German part of Switzerland. He was the son of Bavarian Lieutenant General Rigas Georg Sebastian von Euler-Chelpin (1837–1923) and his wife Gabriele Josephine Eugenie, née Furtner (1848–1931).
Marriages
Astrid
On 2 September 1902, Hans von Euler-Chelpin married Dr. phil. Astrid Maria Cleve (botanist, geologist, chemist), daughter of the chemistry professor Per Teodor Cleve. She was Sweden’s first female doctor of science, and the country’s second woman to earn a Ph.D. (in May 1898). A tireless researcher, but an infamous rule-breaker, Astrid was both admired and rebuffed by traditional academics. She published sixteen papers together with Hans von Euler-Cheplin. The bitter divorce (o¦o) on 12 February 1912 left Astrid struggling. She continued into teaching, publishing articles on diatoms wherever she could, and much later gained employment directing a laboratory owned by the forestry industry, where she published valuable findings on the chemistry of wood and cellulose. With a renewed interest in Quaternary geology (i.e. concerning the geological period spanning from around 2.5 million years ago to the present) Astrid published her 1923 theory that the Scandinavian land mass had oscillated during significant ice melts. This was widely regarded as scientifically groundless, and eventually Astrid was shunned by the Geological Society after a heated, year-long series of public and private debates in which she was criticised for her lack of formal geology schooling.
In 1948, she was awarded an honorary degree, as Sweden's first female recipient of the Jubilee Doctor of Philosophy. Between 1951 and 1955, Astrid Cleve von Euler published her major life work, Die Diatomeen von Schweden und Finnland, spanning across five volumes. As most of her writings, she did so in German. She was awarded an honorary professorship in biology for her diatom studies in 1955. Astrid Maria Cleve von Euler, as she called herself, continued to publish scientific papers until the age of 86. Although she was considered a convinced National Socialist, a street in the proximity of the Karolinska University Hospital was named in her honour.[6] She died in 1968 in a Swedish nursing home, aged 93.
Children
They had five children:
- Sten Hansson (1903–1991), phil. et jur. cand., diplomat (Moscow, Bucharest, Gdansk, Rio de Janeiro), ambassador (Reykjavík), later minister
- Ulf Svante Hansson (1905–1983), Studied with H. H. Dale (London) and Gustav Embden (Frankfurt), Prof. Dr. med., Medical doctor, physiologist, pharmacologist, neurophysiologist and neurochemist as well as member of the Royal Academies of Sciences in Stockholm. In 1970, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Bernard Katz and Julius Axelrod for the discovery of neurotransmitters, in Euler's case norepinephrine.
- Karin Maria (1907–2003), author and translator; ∞ 1931 Sven Johan Stolpe, writer, translator, journalist and literary critic; 4 children
- Hans Georg Rigas Hansson (1908–2003), phil. et jur. cand., judge
- Birgit(t) (1910–2000); ∞ Dr. med. Carl Wathier Klingspor (1903–1998); 4 children
Beth
In 1913, he married Elisabeth "Beth" Baroness (Freiin) af Ugglas (1887–1973; daughter of Ludvig Gustaf Joakim Baron af Ugglas), who participated in academic collaborations with Euler-Chelpin. Beth had studied biochemistry at Lund and Stockholm.
Children
They had four children:
- Rolf Sebastian Ugglas (1914–2005)
- Hans Roland Ugglas (1916–)
- Curt Leonhard Ugglas (1918–2001)
- Johan "Jan" Erik Ugglas (1929–1954)
Awards, decorations and honours
- Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords on 15 January 1915[7]
- Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
- 2nd Class on 4 February 1915[8]
- 1st Class on 8 September 1916
- Bavarian Aerial Observer Badge (Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen) on 1 March 1916
- Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with the Crown and Swords on 30 August 1918
- Norblad Ekstrand Prize from the Swedish Chemical Society in 1927
- Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1929
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Goethe Medal for Art and Science (Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft) in 1943
- Gadolin Medal in 1954
- Gold Membership Pin (Goldene Nadel) of the Max Planck Society in 1955
- Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Cross with Star (Knight Commander's Cross) in 1959
Honours
- Honorary member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London in 1931
- Honorary member of the German Chemical Society in 1942
- Honorary member of the Chemical Society in Rome
- Honorary member of the Chemical Society in Helsinki
- Honorary member of the Chemical Society in Bucharest
- Honorary member of the Société de chimie industrielle in Paris
- Honorary member of the Berlin Medical Society
- Honorary member of the Munich Medical Society[9]
- Honorary member of the Brewery Research and Training Institute in Berlin-Wedding
- Honorary member of the Society of Natural Scientists Leopoldina in 1943
- Honorary member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences in Tokio in 1959
- Honorary Doctor of subsequent universities:
- Euler-Chelpin-Straße in Augsburg
Writings (excerpt)
- Über die Einwirkung von Molybdantrioxyd und Paramolybdaten auf normal Vanadate, und eine neue Bestimmungsmethode von Vanadinpentoxyd und Molybdantrioxyd neben einander. Berlin, 1895 (Dissertation)
- Grundlagen und Ergebnisse der Pflanzenchemie. 1908/09
- Allgemeine Chemie der Enzyme. 1910
- Chemie der Hefe und der alkoholischen Gärung. Leipzig 1915
- Biokatalysatoren. Stuttgart 1930
- (with Boleslaw Skarzynski): Biochemie der Tumoren. 1942
- Entstehung, Wachstum und Rückbildung von Tumoren. Uppsala 1944
- Enzymhemmungen. Stockholm 1944
- Reduktone, ihre chemischen Eigenschaften und biochemischen Wirkungen. 1950
- Chemotherapie und Prophylaxe des Krebses. Stuttgart 1962
- (with Hasselquist): Die Reduktone. Ihre chemischen Eigenschaften und biochemischen Wirkungen. Stuttgart 1950
- (with Eistert): Chemie und Biochemie der Reduktone und Reduktonate. Stuttgart 1957
- Chemotherapie und Prophylaxe des Krebses. 1962
References
- ↑ Hans von Euler-Chelpin
- ↑ Verordnungs-Blatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, Supplement 1914, p. 618
- ↑ Verordnungs-Blatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, January to June 1918, p. 652
- ↑ Verordnungs-Blatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, July to December 1918, p. 1507
- ↑ von Euler-Chelpin, Hans Karl August Simon
- ↑ Gata uppkallad efter nazist vid Karolinska (2018).
- ↑ Verordnungs-Blatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, January to June 1915, p. 185
- ↑ Verordnungs-Blatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, January to June 1915, p. 249
- ↑ Nachruf: Euler-Chelpin, Hans von (Jahrbuch 1965, Feodor Lynen), Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ↑ Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Hans von Euler‐Chelpin