This and his subsequent work led to a better understanding of the proteins and laid the foundations for later studies of them. In addition to his great work in the fields already mentioned, Fischer also studied the enzymes and the chemical substances in the lichens which he found during his frequent holidays in the Black Forest, and also substances used in tanning and, during the final years of his life, the fats.
In he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sugar and purine syntheses. Possibly this affliction was the forerunner of the cancer from which he died. Throughout his life he was well served by his excellent memory, which enabled him, although he was not a naturally good speaker, to memorize manuscripts of lectures that he had written. His administrative work, especially when he went to Berlin, revealed him as a tenacious campaigner for the establishment of scientific foundations, not only in chemistry, but in other fields of work as well.
His keen understanding of scientific problems, his intuition and love of truth and his insistence on experimental proof of hypotheses, marked him as one of the truly great scientists of all time. In Fischer married Agnes Gerlach, daughter of J. Unhappily his wife died seven years after their marriage. They had three sons, one of whom was killed in the First World War; another took his own life at the age of 25 as a result of compulsory military training.
It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above. Emil Fischer died on July 15, Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page.
Nobel Prizes Thirteen laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in , for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Here Fischer met Adolf von Baeyer, under whose influence he finally decided to devote his life to chemistry. Studying under von Baeyer, Fischer took his Ph. In the same year, he was appointed assistant instructor at Strasbourg and here he discovered the first hydrazine base, phenylhydrazine. The discovery of phenylhydrazine, reputed to have been accidental, was related to much of Fischer's later work.
In , he was asked to take the Chair of Chemistry at the University of Berlin, where he remained until his death in Fischer is best known for producing synthetic sugars and, from these, various enzymes. His descriptions of the chemistry of the carbohydrates and peptides laid the foundations for the science of biochemistry.
Fischer began working on a group of compounds that included uric acid and caffeine. He realized that they were all related to a hitherto unknown substance, which he called purine. With this method, the number of possible variations was almost unlimited, and it became evident why such a large number of different proteins exist in nature.
In this field of study his greatest achievement was perhaps his synthesis in of a simple, but real protein molecule. Fischer continued to investigate new areas of organic chemistry. His vacations in the Black Forest of Bavaria led him to study the chemical substances in the lichens that were attached to the old evergreens, and he discovered a new group of compounds, the "depsides. During World War I Fischer held a position as scientific adviser to the German government, with the task of organizing industrial chemical production for the war effort.
He increased the ammonia supply from coke ovens, stimulated the production of the synthetic nitric acid industry, and attempted to organize the production of "synthetic" food.
He also worked closely with the German dye industry but never accepted any of the lucrative industrial posts offered to him. As a professor at Berlin, Fischer found himself called upon for many duties outside teaching and research. He was several times president and vice president of the German Chemical Society and was a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Because of the pressure of these outside activities, he sought to establish private research facilities and to turn over his teaching duties to younger men.
Fischer was a scientist of great talent, imagination, and energy who spent his life in dedication to his field. He married Agnes Gerlach, the daughter of an anatomy professor at Erlangen, in ; they had three sons. Agnes Fischer died in During the war Fischer suffered from ill health, first from chemical poisoning and then from cancer.
He tried unsuccessfully to treat the disease with various chemicals and died on July 15, A sympathetic biographical essay on Fischer can be found in Burckhardt Helferich's contribution to Eduard Farber, ed. A brief account of Fischer's work is included in J.
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