Otto Fritz Meyerhof (; April 12, 1884 – October 6, 1951) was a German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

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 ch ...

who won the 1922

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

Biography

Otto Fritz Meyerhof was born in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, at Theaterplatz 16A (now:Rathenaustrasse 16A), the son of wealthy

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 ...

parents. In 1888, his family moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, where Otto spent most of his childhood, and where he started his study of

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

. He continued these studies in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

, from which he graduated in 1909, with a work titled "Contributions to the Psychological Theory of Mental Illness". In Heidelberg, he met Hedwig Schallenberg. They married in 1914 and became parents of a daughter, Bettina, and two sons, Gottfried (who referred, after emigration, to himself as Geoffrey) as well as Walter. In 1912, Otto Meyerhof moved to the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

, where he received a professorship in 1918. In 1922, he was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

, with

Archibald Vivian Hill Archibald Vivian Hill (26 September 1886 – 3 June 1977), known as A. V. Hill, was a British physiologist, one of the founders of the diverse disciplines of biophysics and operations research. He shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Me ...

, for his work on muscle metabolism, including

glycolysis Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose () into pyruvate (). The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH ...

. In 1929, he became one of the directors of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research, a position he held until 1938. Escaping the

Nazi 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 ...

regime, he emigrated to Paris in 1938. He then moved to the United States in 1940, where he was appointed a guest professorship at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

in Philadelphia. In recognition of his contributions to the study of glycolysis, the common series of reactions for the pathway in

Eukaryotes Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacter ...

is known as the ''Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas Pathway''. Meyerhof died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

at the age of 67.

References

External links

Meyerhof Curriculum Vitae and ObituaryNational Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
* the Nobel Lecture on December 12, 1923 ''Energy Conversions in Muscle'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyerhof, Otto Fritz 1884 births 1951 deaths Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine German Nobel laureates German biochemists Jewish American scientists Jewish chemists Jewish physicians American people of German-Jewish descent Physicians from Hanover People from the Province of Hanover Scientists from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Heidelberg University alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Kiel faculty University of Strasbourg alumni Foreign Members of the Royal Society Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century German physicians Max Planck Institute directors

Biography

See also

References

External links