Eugen Chirnoagă (24 March 1891–June 14, 1965) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n chemist. Chirnoagă was born in 1891 in

Poduri Poduri is a Commune in Romania, commune in Bacău County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Bucșești, Cernu, Cornet, Negreni, Poduri, Prohozești, and Valea Șoșii. The Poduri archeological site of the Late Neolithi ...

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county there a ...

, one of eight children of Gheorghe Chirnoagă, a teacher, and his wife, Olimpia; one of his brothers,

Platon Chirnoagă Platon Chirnoagă (October 24, 1894 – March 29, 1974) was a Romanian brigadier-general during World War II. Chirnoagă was born in 1894 in Poduri, Bacău County, one of eight children of Gheorghe Chirnoagă, a teacher, and his wife, Olimpia; o ...

, became a general 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 ...

. A graduate of the Physics and Chemistry Faculty of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, he followed up his undergraduate education with three years of study at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

that led to a doctorate in 1925. In 1926 he went to study the

colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others exte ...

chemistry of proteins with

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

Theodor Svedberg Theodor Svedberg (30 August 1884 – 25 February 1971; also known as The Svedberg) was a Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate for his research on colloids and proteins using the ultracentrifuge. Svedberg was active at Uppsala University from the ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

. At his Nobel lecture in 1927, Svedberg mentioned Chirnoagă's contribution to the development of the

ultracentrifuge An ultracentrifuge is a centrifuge optimized for spinning a rotor at very high speeds, capable of generating acceleration as high as (approx. ). There are two kinds of ultracentrifuges, the preparative and the analytical ultracentrifuge. Both cla ...

. After returning to Romania, he became a professor at the Bucharest Polytechnic. He was elected corresponding member of the Romanian Academy of Sciences (Chemistry section) on 21 December 1935, and became titular member on 3 June 1941. A prominent member of the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

,"Directorii și rectorii"
at the

Politehnica University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest () is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania founded in 1818.National Legionary State The National Legionary State () was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led ...

: October 9, 1940 to January 27, 1941. During this period, one committee, led by University of Bucharest rector Petre P. Panaitescu, examined the views of professors nationwide, its objective being the firing of those with anti-Nazi views. A similar committee, led by Chirnoagă, targeted the staff of specialized universities. Upon the outbreak of the Legionnaires' rebellion that would end with the Guard's fall from power, its leader Horia Sima sent Panaitescu and Chirnoagă to negotiate with '' Conducător''

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

. The latter showed himself open to concessions, which led Sima to formulate demands he found unacceptable. After the Coup of August 1944 and the fall of Antonescu, a purging committee was set up at the Polytechnic in the autumn of 1944. The following May, this committee removed Chirnoagă from his position as professor. Upon his death in 1965, he was cremated. His wife, Eugenia Chirnoagă, was also a chemist; his son, , became a painter and engraver.

Publications

* * *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chirnoaga, Eugen 1891 births 1965 deaths People from Bacău County University of Bucharest alumni Alumni of the University of London Uppsala University people Romanian chemists Academic staff of the Politehnica University of Bucharest Rectors of Politehnica University of Bucharest Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Members of the Iron Guard