Eugen Chirnoagă (24 March 1891–June 14, 1965) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n chemist. Chirnoagă was born in 1891 in Poduri,

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

, one of eight children of Gheorghe Chirnoagă, a teacher, and his wife, Olimpia; one of his brothers,

Platon Chirnoagă Platon Chirnoagă (October 24, 1894 – March 29, 1974) was a Romanian brigadier-general during World War II. Chirnoagă was born in 1894 in Poduri, Bacău County, one of eight children of Gheorghe Chirnoagă, a teacher, and his wife, Olimpia; ...

, became a general in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. A graduate of the Physics and Chemistry Faculty of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

, he followed up his undergraduate education with three years of study at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

that led to a doctorate in 1925. In 1926 he went to study the colloid chemistry of proteins with Nobel laureate

Theodor Svedberg Theodor Svedberg (30 August 1884 – 25 February 1971) was a Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate for his research on colloids and proteins using the ultracentrifuge. Svedberg was active at Uppsala University from the mid 1900s to late 1940s. ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

. At his

Nobel lecture The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in 1927, Svedberg mentioned Chirnoagă's contribution to the development of the

ultracentrifuge An ultracentrifuge is a centrifuge optimized for spinning a rotor at very high speeds, capable of generating acceleration as high as (approx. ). There are two kinds of ultracentrifuges, the preparative and the analytical ultracentrifuge. Both cla ...

. After returning to Romania, he became a professor at the Bucharest Polytechnic. He was elected corresponding member of the

Romanian Academy of Sciences The Romanian Academy of Sciences was an institution established in Romania by a group of 26 scientists, dissatisfied with the imperfect organization of the Scientific Section of the Romanian Academy, which was left in the background, with only 12 ...

(Chemistry section) on 21 December 1935, and became titular member on 3 June 1941. A prominent member of the Iron Guard,"Directorii și rectorii"
at the

Politehnica University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Politehnica din București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.National Legionary State The National Legionary State was a totalitarian fascist regime which governed Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by General Ion Antonescu in partnership with the ...

: October 9, 1940 to January 27, 1941. During this period, one committee, led by University of Bucharest rector

Petre P. Panaitescu Petre P. Panaitescu (March 11, 1900 – November 14, 1967) was a Romanian literary historian. A native of Iași, he spent most of his adult life in the national capital Bucharest, where he rose to become a professor at its main university. A ...

, examined the views of professors nationwide, its objective being the firing of those with anti-Nazi views. A similar committee, led by Chirnoagă, targeted the staff of specialized universities. Upon the outbreak of the Legionnaires' rebellion that would end with the Guard's fall from power, its leader Horia Sima sent Panaitescu and Chirnoagă to negotiate with ''

Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Ro ...

'' Ion Antonescu. The latter showed himself open to concessions, which led Sima to formulate demands he found unacceptable. After the Coup of August 1944 and the fall of Antonescu, a purging committee was set up at the Polytechnic in the autumn of 1944. The following May, this committee removed Chirnoagă from his position as professor. Upon his death in 1965, he was cremated. His wife, Eugenia Chirnoagă, was also a chemist; his son, , became a painter and engraver.

Publications

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chirnoaga, Eugen 1891 births 1965 deaths People from Bacău County University of Bucharest alumni Alumni of the University of London Uppsala University people Romanian chemists Politehnica University of Bucharest faculty Rectors of Politehnica University of Bucharest Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Members of the Iron Guard 20th-century Romanian politicians