Werner Zerweck (14 March 1899 in Munich – 10 September 1965) was a German chemist, inventor and industrial leader, who served as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the chemical and pharmaceutical company

Cassella Cassella AG, formerly Leopold Cassella & Co. and Cassella Farbwerke Mainkur AG, commonly known as Cassella, was a German chemical and pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1798 in the Frankfurt Jewish Alley by ...

(later merged to become part of

Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

) from 1953 to 1963. Under his leadership the company focused increasingly on pharmaceuticals and cosmetics rather than its former primary focus, dyes. He was also a member of the

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

from 1953. Zerweck was one of the pioneers in the development of synthetic fibers.

Career

He studied chemistry at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

under the Nobel Prize-winning chemists

Heinrich Otto Wieland Heinrich Otto Wieland (; 4 June 1877 – 5 August 1957) was a German chemist. He won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the bile acids. Career In 1901 Wieland received his doctorate at the University of Munich while studyi ...

and

Hans Fischer Hans Fischer (; 27 July 1881 – 31 March 1945) was a German organic chemist and the recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis of ha ...

, and obtained his doctorate in 1922 with Fischer as his

doctoral advisor A doctoral advisor (also dissertation director, dissertation advisor; or doctoral supervisor) is a member of a university faculty whose role is to guide graduate students who are candidates for a doctorate, helping them select coursework, as well ...

. He then worked for two years as Fischer's assistant, and was employed as a researcher at Cassella from 1924 after being recommended to the company by Fischer. He first worked in the research laboratory led by

Arthur von Weinberg Arthur von Weinberg (11 August 1860, in Frankfurt am Main – 20 March 1943, in the Theresienstadt Ghetto) was a German chemist and industrialist. He was a co-owner of Cassella and later a co-founder, co-owner and member of the supervisory board a ...

; he later worked closely with

Richard Herz Richard Herz (July 21, 1867 – November 18, 1936) was a German chemist. He discovered the Herz reaction. He studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, at the Technical College of Berlin and at the University of Berlin Humboldt-Univ ...

. In 1932 he became joint head of research together with

Otto Bayer Otto Bayer (4 November 1902 – 1 August 1982) was a German industrial chemist at IG Farben who was head of the research group that in 1937 discovered the polyaddition for the synthesis of polyurethanes out of poly-isocyanate and polyol. Bay ...

; after Otto Bayer had left Cassella to join

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

the following year, Zerweck became Cassella's sole head of research. He received power of

procuration Procuration () is the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency. The word is applied to the authority or power delegated to a procurator, or agent, as well as to the exercise of such authority expressed frequently by procurat ...

in 1936 and became deputy head of the Cassella works in 1939. He was vice chairman of the board of directors (i.e. deputy CEO) from 1947 and chairman of the board of directors (i.e. CEO) of Cassella from 1953, and simultaneously continued to head its research activities. He was also a member of the

supervisory board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

from 1956. He retired as CEO on 31 December 1963. In 1950, he became Honorary Professor of

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

at the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. He became a member of the

in 1953. The Prof. Dr. Zerweck/Cassella Foundation (''Prof. Dr. Zerweck-/Cassella-Stiftung'') was established in 1966 and named in his honour. He was the (co-)inventor of numerous chemical and pharmaceutical patents."W. Zerweck 65 Jahre." In: ''Nachrichten aus Chemie und Technik'', Volume 12, Issue 6, page 114, 21 March 1964. .

Honours

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(1953)

Selected publications

, Werner Zerweck, "Über den Harnfarbstoff bei normalen und pathologischen Verhältnissen und seine lichtschützende Wirkung. Zugleich einige Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Porphyrinurie," '' Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift für physiologische Chemie'' (= ''Biological Chemistry''). Volume 137, Issue 3–6, Pages 176–241, *

, Werner Zerweck, "Zur Kenntnis der natürlichen Porphyrine. 7. Mitteilung. Über Uroporphyrinogen-heptamethylester und eine neue Überführung von Uro- in Koproporphyrin," '' Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift für physiologische Chemie'' (= ''Biological Chemistry''). Volume 137, Issue 3–6, Pages 242–264, *

, Werner Zerweck, "Zur Kenntnis der Pyrrole, 1. Mitteilung: Über Pyrrol-aldehyde", ''Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft'', Volume 55, Issue 6, pages 1942–1949, 1922, *

, Werner Zerweck, "Zur Kenntnis der Pyrrole, 2. Mitteilung: Nitrierung von substituierten Pyrrolen". ''Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft'', Volume 55, Issue 6, pages 1949–1955, 1922, *

, Werner Zerweck, "Zur Kenntnis der Pyrrole, 4. Mitteilung: Über Pyrrol-aldehyde (II.) und über Pyrrol-nitrile," ''Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft'', Volume 56, Issue 2, pages 519–527, 1923, *

, Karl Schneller, Werner Zerweck, "Zur Kenntnis der Pyrrole, 3. Mitteilung: Über Ketone, Ketonsäure-ester und Ketonsäure-nitrile substituierter Pyrrole," ''Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft'', Volume 55, Issue 8, pages 2390–2403, 1922,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zerweck, Werner 1899 births 1965 deaths 20th-century German chemists Cassella people German chief executives Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Scientists from Munich Scientists from Frankfurt Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Technical University of Munich alumni