Hans Günther Aach (2 October 1919 – 4 December 1999) was a German

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. and virologist known for his research on viral proteins and his contributions to botanical science. Born in Oldenburg, Germany, Aach earned his doctorate in March 1952 from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Göttingen. He was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Botany at RWTH Aachen University, and served as the Chair of Botany and Director of the Botanical Institute at the same institution until his retirement. Aach’s scientific work focused primarily on the study of proteins in viruses, and he contributed to the ''Handbuch der Biologie'', a significant biological reference work.

Life

Aach was born in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

. He gained his doctorate in March 1952 in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. In July 1961 he presented his professorial thesis at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

. He spent several months as visiting faculty at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. On 31 December 1962 he was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Botany at the

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

. From 12 January 1965 he was appointed to the Chair of Botany in the same place and made director of the Botanical Institute. He retired on 1 March 1984. The emphasis of his scientific work was on

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s in

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

es. He collaborated on the ''Handbuch der Biologie''. Aach died in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

in December 1999 at the age of 80.Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender, Volumes 1-3, pg. 3697
/ref>

Works

* ''Abriss der Botanik für Studenten der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften.'' Berlin 1948 * ''Über Wachstum und Zusammensetzung von Chlorella pyrenoidosa bei unterschiedlichen Lichtstärken und Nitratmengen.'' Göttingen 1952 * ''Die Viren.'' Akademische Verlags-Gesellschaft Athenaion, Konstanz 1960 * ''Zur Konstanz der Aminosäurenzusammensetzung im Eiweißanteil des Tabakmosaikvirus.'' Köln 1961 * ''Zum Problem der Viruseiweisssynthese in zellfreien Chlorellasystemen.'' Westdeutscher Verlag, Köln 1968

Literature

* ''

Kürschners deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender ''Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender'' (English: "Kürschner's Encyclopedia of German Scholars"), formerly subtitled ''Lexikon der lebenden deutschsprachigen Wissenschaftler'' ("Encyclopedia of Living German-Speaking Scholars"), is a German ...

.'' Vol. 1, 1966.

Notes and references

External links

* 1919 births 1999 deaths 20th-century German botanists People from Oldenburg (city) Academic staff of RWTH Aachen University Academic staff of the University of Cologne University of Göttingen alumni {{Germany-botanist-stub