Johan Hermann Wilhelm Rupe (October 9, 1866, in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

– January 12, 1951) was a professor of organic chemistry at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. His main field of interest was

terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n > 1. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes ar ...

s and campher as well as optical activity.

Life

Rupe was born on October 9, 1866 in Basel to Johannes Rupe and Mathilde Rupe (born Fischer) and went to school in Basel. He passed his Maturität in 1885 and then went on to study in Basel under Julius Piccard. He continued his studies at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

under Rudolf Fittig and then in 1887 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

under

Adolf von Baeyer Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German chemist who synthesised indigo and developed a nomenclature for cyclic compounds (that was subsequently extended and adopted as part of the IUPAC org ...

. Rupe received his PhD in 1889 at Munich for his dissertation ''Über die Reduktionsprodukte der Dichloromuconsäure''. In 1894 he went to

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

to become head of the "Chemieschule" in the organic division. Rupe

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in 1895 in Basel, where he moved in 1899. In 1903, he became an associate professor for

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

at the

. He worked with the chemistry Professor Rudolf Nietzki, who retired in 1911. In 1911 or 1912 , he was promoted to full professor for organic chemistry (while his colleague Friedrich Fichter became professor for

inorganic chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

). During his time as a professor, he supervised nearly 150 students and published over 250 scientific articles. In 1907, he married Margrit Hagenback, daughter of

Eduard Hagenbach-Bischoff Eduard Hagenbach-Bischoff (20 February 1833, in Basel – 23 December 1910, in Basel) was a Swiss physicist. The Hagenbach-Bischoff quota (a voting system) is named after him. The son of the theologian Karl Rudolf Hagenbach, he studied physics a ...

with whom he had three children. His wife died in 1926 and in 1933 his youngest son died. In 1936 he married Marguerite Lutz. Rupe retired in 1937 and died on January 12, 1951.

Honors

* foreign member of the

Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

(1932).Mitgliederverzeichnis
Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina * president and co-founder of the Schweizerischen Chemischen Gesellschaft * editor of ''

Helvetica Chimica Acta ''Helvetica Chimica Acta'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of chemistry established by the Swiss Chemical Society. It is published online by John Wiley & Sons. The journal has a 2020 impact factor of 2.164. History *August 6, 1901: Founding o ...

''.

Publications

* ''Anleitung zum Experimentieren in der Vorlesung über organische Chemie'', Braunschweig, 1. Aufl. 1909, 2. Aufl. 1930. * ''Adolf von Baeyer als Lehrer und Forscher. Erinnerungen aus seinem Privatlaboratorium''. Stuttgart 1932.

References

History page of the University of Basel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rupe, Hans 1866 births 1951 deaths Swiss chemists Academic staff of the University of Basel Scientists from Basel-Stadt