Fritz Feigl (15 May 1891 – 23 January 1971) was a Jewish

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-born

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. He taught at the

University of Brazil The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

Biography

Feigl was born and studied in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, but owing to his military service in the First World War he had to interrupt his studies. He received his Ph.D. for work with

Wilhelm Schlenk Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Moun ...

in 1920. After his habilitation in 1928 he became a professor at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. He was forced to retire after the

Nazi occupation of Austria The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

in 1938. Feigl was able to get to Belgium and work there. After the occupation of Belgium he was imprisoned in a concentration camp, but was able to reach Portugal and from there Brazil in 1940. He worked at the

University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

and became a Brazilian citizen in 1944.

Contributions

Fritz Feigl is the creator of "

spot analysis Spot analysis, spot test analysis, or spot test is a chemical test, a simple and efficient technique where analytic assays are executed in only one, or a few drops, of a chemical solution, preferably in a great piece of filter paper, without using ...

" ( spot test), a simple and efficient technique where analytic assays are executed in only one, or a few drops, of a chemical solution, preferably in a great piece of filter paper, without using any sophisticated instrumentation. A notable example he developed was a simple test to know if fishes eaten by Amazon population are contaminated by lead. Poor populations by the Amazon rivers were taught to easily use that technique to find out contaminated fishes and discharge them. On the occasion of Feigl's 70th birthday the

Chemical Society of Midland A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

sponsored a symposium in 1962, attended by 500 scientists from 24 countries, in which all plenary sessions were related on spot tests. A less known contribution is the development of "

luminol Luminol (C8H7N3O2) is a chemical that exhibits chemiluminescence, with a blue glow, when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent. Luminol is a white-to-pale-yellow crystalline solid that is soluble in most polar organic solvents, but insolub ...

", a substance used by forensic investigators to detect the presence of blood, even if the scene has been washed and cleaned.

Literary works

* ''Qualitative Analyse mit Hilfe von Tüpfelreaktionen'', 1931 * ''Chemistry of specific, selective and sensitive reactions'', 1949 * ''Spot tests in inorganic analysis'', 1958 * ''Spot tests in organic analysis'', 1966

Decorations and awards

* 1931:

Fritz Pregl Prize Fritz Pregl Prize has been awarded annually since 1931, to an Austrian scientist for distinguished achievements in chemistry by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (''Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften'') from the funds left at its disposal ...

* 1956: Honorary doctorate, University of Sao Paulo * 1957: Wilhelm Exner Medal * 1961: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art

Fritz Feigl Prizes

*The Fritz Feigl Prize by the Austrian Society of Analytical Chemistry (ASAC), since 1950. *In Brazil, since 1996 by the CRQ-IV (4th Regional Chemical Association) the Friz-Feigl Prize tendered (Prêmio Fritz Feigl) to reward and encourage chemists. The winners receive a certificate, a medal and a prize (in 2005 it was 12,000 euros).

External links

* Weintraub, B. (2005)

, ''Chemistry in Israel'', Bull. Isr. Chem. Soc., Issue 20, December 2005. p 42–46.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feigl, Fritz 1891 births 1971 deaths Austrian chemists Austro-Hungarian emigrants to Brazil Austro-Hungarian Jews Brazilian chemists Brazilian people of Austrian-Jewish descent Austrian Jews Brazilian Jews Naturalized citizens of Brazil People from Rio de Janeiro (city) Scientists from Vienna Academics of the University of Vienna Federal University of Rio de Janeiro faculty Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art