Fritz Albert Lipmann (; June 12, 1899 – July 24, 1986) was a German-American
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological che ...
and a co-discoverer in 1945 of
coenzyme A
Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All genomes sequenced to date encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a subs ...
. For this, together with other research on coenzyme A, he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( sv, Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or ...
in 1953 (shared with
Hans Adolf Krebs
Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, FRS (, ; 25 August 1900 – 22 November 1981) was a German-born British biologist, physician and biochemist. He was a pioneer scientist in the study of cellular respiration, a biochemical process in living cells that ext ...
).
Early life and education
Lipmann was born in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...
, Germany, to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family. His parents were Gertrud (Lachmanski) and Leopold Lipmann, an attorney.
Lipmann studied medicine at the
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...
,
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
, and
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, graduating in Berlin in 1924. He returned to Königsberg to study chemistry under Professor
Hans Meerwein. In 1926 he joined
Otto Meyerhof at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
,
Dahlem, Berlin, for his doctoral thesis. After that he followed Meyerhof to
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
to the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
.
Career
From 1939 on, Lipmann lived and worked in the United States. He was a Research Associate in the Department of Biochemistry,
Cornell University Medical College, New York from 1939 to 1941. He joined the research staff of the
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1941, first as a Research Associate in the Department of Surgery, then heading his own group in the Biochemical Research Laboratory of the hospital. From 1949 to 1957 he was professor of
biological chemistry at
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...
. From 1957 onwards, he taught and conducted research at
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
.
In 1953, Lipmann received one half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine "for his discovery of co-enzyme A and its importance for intermediary metabolism." The other half of the award was won by
Hans Adolf Krebs
Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, FRS (, ; 25 August 1900 – 22 November 1981) was a German-born British biologist, physician and biochemist. He was a pioneer scientist in the study of cellular respiration, a biochemical process in living cells that ext ...
. Lipmann was awarded the
National Medal of Science in 1966. He would try to dive further into his discovery by finding a variant of co-enzyme A, now known as
Pantethine. He was an elected member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
, the United States
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
, and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...
.
Lipmann introduced the specific squiggle designation (~) to indicate high energy-rich phosphate in energy-rich biomolecules like ATP in his essay "Metabolic Generation and Utilization of Phosphate Bond Energy." Of his work, he said "that in the field of biosynthesis we have a rare example of progress leading to simplification."
Personal life

In 1931, Lipmann married Elfreda M. Hall. They had one son.
[ Lipmann died in New York in 1986.FRITZ A. LIPMAN, BIOCHEMIST, DIES]
''New York Times'' (August 16, 1986) His widow died in 2008 at the age of 101.
See also
*
List of Jewish Nobel laureates
Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 900 individuals, of whom at least 20% were Jews.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The number of Jews receiving Nobel prizes has been the subject of some attention.*
*
*"Jews rank high among winners of Nobel, but why ...
*
Hans Adolf Krebs
Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, FRS (, ; 25 August 1900 – 22 November 1981) was a German-born British biologist, physician and biochemist. He was a pioneer scientist in the study of cellular respiration, a biochemical process in living cells that ext ...
References
External links
*
jewish virtual library biographyLeibniz Institute for Age Research – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI)National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipmann, Fritz Albert
1899 births
1986 deaths
Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
American Nobel laureates
German Nobel laureates
American biochemists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
Jewish American scientists
Jewish chemists
Scientists from Königsberg
People from East Prussia
University of Königsberg alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Physicians of the Charité
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
Heidelberg University alumni
Harvard Medical School faculty
National Medal of Science laureates
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Rockefeller University people
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Members of the American Philosophical Society