Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-01-01 / 1. szám
special IF ea tm- f - (Of - (Du' - JH au t h ed Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences). Bruno Straub and his associates have ^significantly enriched our knowledge with their internationally valued investigations into the structure of enzymes, muscular action, cell respiration and protein synthesis. His Biokémia. (Budapest: Medicina, 1958. 600 p.) has been translated into a multitude of foreign languages, including German and Russian. Biochemist Mihály Gerendás (1908-1976) graduated from Szeged University where he worked under the guidance of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi. In the meantime in 1938 Gerendás was an associate of professor Wartburg in Berlin. He was appointed to teach biochemistry at Budapest University in 1942. Gerendás conducted important investigations into the physiology of blood clotting and prepared bleeding reducing agents. Gerendás’ therapy-oriented research produced several useful remedies and his literary activities served the same purpose, as was the case with his substantial contribution entitled Thrombin-Fibrinprodukte und ihre Anwendung (Budapest, 1963). George Charles Hevesy (b. 1885, Budapest — 1966) developed isotopes as tracers in chemical research which earned him the 1943 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Hevesy also discovered a new element: hafnium, a member of the zirconium ores. He studied and did research work in Berlin, at the University of Freiburg, and in 1911 Hevesy started working in Manchester under the direction of Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), the famed British physicist, during which time Hevesy was encouraged to explore the application of radioactive isotopes as tracers. In 1912 he joined Friedrich Paneth’s staff in Vienna where he greatly improved his isotopic tracer technique. The results of his lifework are summarized in his following publications: Das Element Hafnium (Berlin, 1927); Artificial activity of hafnium and some other elements (Copenhagen, 1938); Radioactive indicators; their application in biochemistry, animal physiology and pathology (New York, 1948); Adventures in radioactive research; the collected papers ofG.H. (New York, 1962). In recognition for his unique accomplishments in radioactivity research György Hevesy was awarded in addition to the Nobel Prize the Faraday, Copley and Bohr Medals, the Enrico Fermi Prize, and the Atoms for Peace Award. There are several chemists in present-day Hungary who have contributed to the advancement of chemical knowledge in quite different branches. Physical chemist Geza Schay (b. 1900) and his collaborators have produced excellent results in catalysis, reaction kinetics, gas chromatography and various aspects of nuclear chemistry and the rubber industry. They succeeded, among other things, in establishing correlations between the structure and reactivity of unsaturated conjugated and aromatic compounds. His major works include Hochverdunnte Flammen, (Berlin, 1930); Theoretische Grundlagen der Gaschromatographie (Berlin, 1960), which was published also in Russian and Hungarian, and Fizikai kémia (Budapest, 1945, 1970; with Gyula Groh and Tibor Erdey- Gruz). László Erdey (1910-1970) received his Ph.D. in electrochemistry at the Budapest University in 1938, and in 1949 became professor of chemistry at the Budapest University of Technical Sciences. His research and publishing activities embraced the most important aspects of analytical chemistry. He invented several new research methods such as ascorbinometry and the application of luminescent indicators. With the assistance of his coworkers Ferenc and Jeno Paulik, Erdey invented the derivatograph, a device which is used the world over for simultaneously measuring the weight and thermal effects of the same single specimen. Erdey published several books and many articles in various languages. His multivolume set (A kémiai analízis sulyszerinti módszerei. Budapest, 1960. 3 v.) is regarded as a standard work in gravimetric analysis. Its English edition, Gravimetric analysis, appeared first in New York in 1963 as volume 7 of the International Series of Monographs on Analytical Chemistry, and in 1965 in Oxford under the same title as a 3-volume edition. 1973 saw the publication of his book, Ascorbinometric titrations. Gyozo Bruckner (1900) studied at the Budapest University of Technical Sciences and at Szeged University. In 1930 Bruckner received a state grant to work in F. Pregl’s Institute of Microanalysis in Graz, Austria. He taught a Szeged until 1949 then at Budapest University. Bruckner and his associates helped elucidate the chemical structure of peptides and proteins. His main work is Szerves kémia (Organic chemistry, 1952, 1955, 1964), Zoltán Földi (1895), László Vargba (1903) and their colleagues excelled in the synthesis of substances used in the pharmaceutical and canning industries. In pharmacology Bela Issekutz (b. 1886) and Miklós Jancso (1903-1966) scored outstanding successes. Issekutz’ investigations into the physiology of the thyroid gland and the action mechanism of insulin are especially well known. He discovered many important medicines, among them the widely used diuretic Novurite. Issekutz authored a standard work on the history of pharmacology entitled Die Geschichte der Arzneimittelforschung (1971). Miklós Jancso’s studies on the reticuloendothelial system are significant contributions (Speicherung, Stoffanreicherung in Retikuloendothel und in der Niere. 1955). In addition, the activities of Jancso, like that of Issekutz, are of significance because both focused their research work on the production of entirely new natural and synthetic drugs and revealed the relationship between their chemical constitution and effect. László Zechmeister (b. 1889), an internationally famed expert in organic chemistry, also studied in Zurich. In the years 1920 and 1921 he conducted industrial chemical research in Hungary and from 1921 to 1923 in Copenhagen. From 1923 to 1940 Zechmeister held a professorship in chemistry at the Medical Faculty of the University of Pecs, Hungary, after which he emigrated to the United States where he was professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena from 1940 to 1959. Most of Zechmeister’s experiments were conducted in the following laboratories: Chemisches Laboratorium der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule, Zurich; Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Chemie, Berlin-Dahlem; Royal Veterinary and —continued next page 22 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JANUARY 1988
