Ernst Späth (; 14 May 1886 in

Moravský Beroun Moravský Beroun (; until 1924 Beroun, ) is a town in Olomouc District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. Administrative division Moravský Beroun consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population a ...

– 30 September 1946 in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, specializing in

natural product A natural product is a natural compound or substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural products can also be prepared by chemical s ...

Life

Späth was the first to synthesise

mescaline Mescaline, also known as mescalin or mezcalin, and in chemical terms 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a natural product, naturally occurring psychedelic drug, psychedelic alkaloid, protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, found ...

and was one of the first to synthesize

cuscohygrine Cuscohygrine is a bis N-methyl pyrrolidine alkaloid found in Erythroxylum, coca plants. It can also be extracted from plants of the family Solanaceae, including ''Atropa belladonna'' (deadly nightshade) and various ''Datura'' species. Cuscohygrine ...

on a small scale with

Hans Tuppy Hans Tuppy (22 July 1924 – 24 April 2024) was an Austrian biochemist who participated in the sequencing of insulin, and became Austria's first university professor for biochemistry. He was Austrian Minister for Science and Research from 1987 t ...

. He lost everything in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and died with no money. His former student

Percy Lavon Julian Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. Julian was the first person to synthesize the natural product physostigmine, and a pio ...

returned to Vienna, paid for his funeral, and commissioned a bust of Späth, which is still displayed in the foyer of the ''Faculty of Chemistry'' of the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. A second cast of the bust was erected in 1961 in the ''Arkadenhof'' of the University of Vienna.

References

Biography

Publications

* Austrian chemists 1886 births 1946 deaths Moravian-German people Austrian people of Moravian-German descent Austrian expatriates in Switzerland People from Moravský Beroun 20th-century Austrian scientists 20th-century Austrian chemists {{Chemist-stub