Harry Julius Emeléus

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, FRS (22 June 1903 – 2 December 1993) was an English

inorganic chemist An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

and a professor in the department of chemistry, Cambridge University.

Early life

Emeléus was born in

Poplar, London Poplar is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross and lies on the western bank of the River Lea. Poplar is identified as a major district centre in the London Plan, with its ...

on 22 June 1903, the son of Karl Henry Emeléus (1869–1948), a pharmacist who was born in

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The family moved to the Old Pharmacy in Battle, Sussex shortly after Emeléus was born. His elder brother

Karl George Emeléus Karl George Emeléus (4 August 1901 in London–18 June 1989 in Belfast)Karl George Em ...

(1901–1989) went on to become professor of physics at the

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. Emeléus was educated at St Leonards Collegiate School, Hastings, and

Hastings Grammar School Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066. ...

followed by the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from t ...

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

, London, graduating in 1923. He gained his PhD in 1926 and a DSc three years later. During his post-graduate studies he spent time at the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public university, public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Ka ...

as a student of

Alfred Stock Alfred Stock (July 16, 1876 – August 12, 1946) was a German inorganic chemist. He did pioneering research on the hydrides of boron and silicon, coordination chemistry, mercury, and mercury poisoning. The German Chemical Society's Alfred-Stoc ...

and two years at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

with Professor

Hugh Stott Taylor Sir Hugh Stott Taylor (6 February 1890 – 17 April 1974) was an English chemist primarily interested in catalysis.Who Was Who, Published by A&C Black Limited In 1925, in a landmark contribution to catalytic theory, Taylor suggested that a cat ...

. Among his many students and research colleagues, notable are Norman Greenwood, Ken McTaggart and F. Gordon A. Stone.

Career

Emeléus served as president of the inorganic chemistry division of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

(1955–60). He was also president of the

Chemical Society The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

(1958–60) and of the

Royal Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its ai ...

(1963–5).

Awards

Edward Harrison Memorial Prize The Edward Harrison Memorial Prize was awarded from 1926 to 1979 by the Chemical Society and from 1980 to 2007 by its successor the Royal Society of Chemistry to a British chemist who was under 32 years of age, and working the fields of theoretical ...

(1932) *

Tilden Lecture Tilden may refer to: Places Canada * Tilden Lake, Ontario United States * Fort Tilden, former U.S. Army installation in the New York City borough of Queens * Tilden, Illinois * Tilden, Indiana * Tilden, Missouri * Tilden, Nebraska * Tild ...

to the

(1942) *

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(1946) * Liversidge Award (1954) *

Alfred Stock Memorial Prize The Alfred-Stock Memorial Prize or Alfred-Stock-Gedächtnispreis (From 2023: Marianne Baudler Prize) is an award for "an outstanding independent scientific experimental investigation in the field of inorganic chemistry." It is awarded biennially ...

and medal of the

Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker The German Chemical Society () is a learned society and professional association founded in 1949 to represent the interests of German chemists in local, national and international contexts. GDCh "brings together people working in chemistry and th ...

(1954) *

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1958) *

Davy Medal The Davy Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry". Named after Humphry Davy, the medal is awarded with a monetary gift, initially of £1000 (currently £2000). Re ...

of the Royal Society (1962) *

Henri Moissan Ferdinand Frédéric Henri Moissan (; 28 September 1852 – 20 February 1907) was a French chemist and pharmacist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in isolating fluorine from its compounds. Among his other contributions, Mo ...

prize for fluorine chemistry, Germany (1991) * Lavoisier Medal of the Société Chimique de France (French Chemical Society)

Death

Emeléus died of heart failure at

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, on 2 December 1993. He was survived by his four children, his wife having predeceased him in January 1991.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Independent''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emeleus, Harry Julius 1903 births 1993 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Science British inorganic chemists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English chemists English people of Finnish descent Fellows of the Royal Society Manhattan Project people People educated at Hastings Grammar School People from Battle, East Sussex People from Poplar, London Presidents of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Scientists from London