Nationality Hungarian | Name Geza Zemplen | |
Born October 26, 1883
Trencsen, Hungary ( 1883-10-26 ) Died July 24, 1956(1956-07-24) (aged 72)
Budapest, Hungary Fields organic chemistry, biochemistry Institutions Selmecbanyai Banyaszati es Erdeszeti Foiskola, Jozsef Nador Muegyetem, Georgetown University Alma mater Eotvos College Budapest Known for Isolation, synthesis and structure of naturally occurring flavonoid-glycosides | ||
Geza Gusztav Zemplen, Ph.D. (26 October 1883 – 24 July 1956) was a notable Hungarian chemist, organic chemist, professor, and chemistry author. He was a recipient of the Kossuth Prize, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and was the brother of Professor Gyozo Zemplen. His major field of research was structural chemistry and biochemistry including the synthesis of naturally occurring flavonoid-glycosides (isolated from plants).
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Life
Geza Zemplen was born in Trencsen, the son of Janos Zemplen and Janka Vittlin, both Roman Catholics. After having completed his secondary education in Fiume, he enrolled in the Eotvos College Budapest in 1900. During his studies he produced two prize-winning works in the sciences. In 1904 he obtained a Ph.D. (doctor rerum naturalium). After having completed his probationary year of teaching, he became a certificated teacher. He then joined the faculty of the College of Mining and Forestry in Selmecbanya in 1905. One year later he was promoted to the post of adjunct professor. He married Margit Heinrich Johanna Friderika (the Roman Catholic daughter of Janos Heinrich and Emilia Turnovszky) in 1907 in Budapest. However, they were divorced in 1920.
In order to gain further expertise in organic chemistry Zemplen left for Berlin where he worked for 2.5 years for the renowned professor Emil Fischer, first as an assistant and later (on Fischer's invitation) as a colleague in his private laboratory. On the invitation of Emil Abderhalden, an eminent biochemist, Zemplen participated in the writing of Biochemisches Hand-lexikon and also Handbuch der biochemischen Arbeitsmethoden. In 1910 Zemplen returned to his job in Selmecbanya where he was presented the Hungarian Journal of Chemistry Award as well as the Hungarian National Society of Forestry Award. In 1912 he was qualified by the University of Budapest as doctor habil, and in 1913 he was appointed the Head of the newly created Department of Organic Chemistry of the Palatine Joseph Technical University. Beginning in 19l4, he acted as the councilor of the Budapest's Chinoin Pharmaceutical Factory.
In Budapest, on 12 February 1920, Professor Zemplen married the Calvinist Natalia Endredy, the daughter of Karoly Endredy and Irma Helfy. Natalia died only a few years later. In 1927 he was elected corresponding member and later, in 1928, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The same year he was awarded the Hungarian Academy's Grand Prix, which at that time was the highest national recognition a Hungarian scholar could achieve. In 1932 Dr. Zemplen received the Corvin chain (a national award founded in remembrance of King Matyas Hunyadi) in recognition of his activity abroad as well as in Hungary.
On 14 October 1933 Professor Zemplen married the Calvinist Karolina Sarolta Rau (born in 1902, parents: Andras Erno Rau and Iren Roza Kovacs). The wedding was held in the Erzsebet district of Pest. Between 1930 and 1940 Zemplen continued research on the naturally occurring flavonoid-glycosides and succeeded in elucidating the structures of several of them, as well as accomplishing their total syntheses. His research contributed to the industrial isolation and application of flavonoids found in plants. In 1941 he was invited to give a lecture in Germany. During the course of World War II he continued his research although his institute was almost entirely ruined due to the Siege of Budapest.
In 1947, Georgetown University in Washington invited Zemplen as guest professor for one year. Toward the end of his stay in the USA he fell ill with cancer. In Hungary he was among the very first to receive the golden level of the Kossuth Prize. He also became a member of the Presidium of the Scientific Council. Professor Zemplen is the author of more than 200 scientific publications and a textbook entitled Szerveskemia ("Organic Chemistry"). He died in Budapest on 24 July 1956.
Zemplen's publications can be found in numerous German and Hungarian chemical journals including the Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft (German), the Zeitschrift fur physiologische Chemie (German), the Zentralblatt fur Physiologie (German), Vegyeszeti Lapok (Hungarian), in Erdeszeti Lapok (Hungarian), in Urania (German), and in the Jahresberichte uber Garungschemie und Garungsorganismen (German). He had also written articles in Biochemisches Handlexikon on dextrin, inulin, alanine, leucine, histidine, proline, oxyproline, and indol, as well as various starches, celluloses, nitrogen-containing carbohydrates, sulphur-containing amino acids, indol-derivatives, and carbohydrates. In the Handbuch der biochemischen Arbeitsmethoden (1912-1913), Zemplen wrote about the production and detection of glucosides as well as other, higher carbohydrates. Professor Zemplen acted as a referee of several journals in chemistry. A reaction type (transesterifications among carbohydrate derivatives) was named after Zemplen.