Gedeon Richter (23 September 1872 – 30 December 1944) was a Hungarian

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

, founder of

Gedeon Richter plc Gedeon Richter Plc. is a Hungarian multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is one of the largest companies of the industry in the Central and Eastern European region and has operations in ov ...

and a pioneer of the modern Hungarian pharmaceutical industry.

Life

Richter was born 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 in Ecséd,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

, but due to the death of his parents, from 1873 he grew up in Gyöngyös. From 1890 he worked there as a trainee pharmacist. In 1895 Richter completed his degree in

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

with a high mark at the

Budapest University Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

. Two years later, he travelled to several European pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies, studying their drug manufacturing methods. In 1901 he bought the pharmacy named as the ''Eagle'' at the corner on the Üllői Road and Márton Street in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

, producing organo-therapeutic drugs. In 1907, in

Kőbánya Kőbánya (literally: Quarry, ) is the 10th district of Budapest () and one of the largest by territory. It is located in southeast Pest, easily accessible from the downtown by Metro 3, whose terminus is named '' Kőbánya-Kispest''. It ...

, on 63 Cserkesz Street, he built, and took charge of, the first pharmaceutical factory in Hungary. The factory had its first major success with a kind of

Aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...

called ''Kalmopyrin'', and the disinfectant

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3%� ...

in tablets called ''Hyperol'', which were patented in 1912 and went on to play an important role in the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Before the war, he already had 24 pharmaceutical patents.

World War 2

By the start of

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 ...

, his pharmaceutical network had representatives on five continents, with 10 subsidiaries and in 34 states with commission repositories. In 1942, he was stripped from his position as director (due to anti-Semitic laws), and banned from his factory. Then he managed the company from his home with the staff he trusted. In the autumn of 1944 the factory activity was almost completely paralyzed. Even though he had the opportunity to leave Budapest and move to Switzerland, he did not want to leave the company. His wife and himself were hidden by

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...

with more than a thousand other Jews. After being caught, Richter was murdered by the Hungarian "nyilas"

national socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

(

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party ( hu, Nyilaskeresztes Párt – Hungarista Mozgalom, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National ...

) in December 1944, along with others shot, and thrown into the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

Impact

After the war, the factory was rebuilt under the name of Richter Pharmaceutical Factory in

. In 1972, on the 100th anniversary of Richter's birth, a commemorative medal was struck, and a memorial plaque was added to the ''Eagle'' pharmacy. Richter made the first organo-therapeutic composition for raising blood pressure, an adrenal hormone extract (

adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands an ...

), and the ''Kalmopyrin'' and the

Tonogen Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...

suprarenale which are all still used in medicine. His family house now operates as a school, under the name ''Richter Gedeon Elementary School'' in Ecséd. The room in which he was born functions as a gym today.

Personal life

In 1902 he married Anna Winkler, the daughter of a timber manufacturer of

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

. The couple's only son, László was born in 1903. He studied chemistry at the ETH Zurich and followed his father's footsteps in the pharmaceutical industry. The parents were practicing Jews, but László converted to the Christian faith of his bride, Ilona Lobmayer, before their marriage in 1932.

Notice

Sources

* Pillich, Lajos: Richter Gedeon. In: Magyar tudóslexikon A-tól Zs-ig. Editor in chief: Nagy Ferenc. Budapest: Better; MTESZ; OMIKK. 1997, pp. 679–680 * Reményi Gyenes, István: ''Ismerjük őket? Zsidó származású nevezetes magyarok'', Ex Libris Kiadó, Budapest, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Gedeon 1872 births 1944 deaths Hungarian chemists Hungarian businesspeople Hungarian industrialists People executed by the Government of National Unity (Hungary) People executed by Hungary by firing squad