Ilie G. Murgulescu ( Cornu, 27 January 1902 – Bucharest, 28 October 1991) 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 physical chemist and a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

(1960–1963) and

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

(1953–1956 and 1960–1963). He founded the

Institute of Physical Chemistry The Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences ( Polish Instytut Chemii Fizycznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk, IChF PAN) is one of numerous institutes belonging to the Polish Academy of Sciences. As its name suggests, the instit ...

of the Romanian Academy where he presided until 1977. His investigations on

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

covered a broad realm. Among his main results can be cited those he got on

molten salt Molten salt is salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but liquified due to elevated temperature. A salt that is liquid even at standard temperature and pressure is usually called a room-temperature ionic liquid, and molten salts ...

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

. He did doctoral work on Copper

thiosulfate Thiosulfate ( IUPAC-recommended spelling; sometimes thiosulphate in British English) is an oxyanion of sulfur with the chemical formula . Thiosulfate also refers to the compounds containing this anion, which are the salts of thiosulfuric acid, ...

complex

photochemistry Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 Nanometre, nm), visible ligh ...

under Fritz Weigert in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

as adviser. His son participated in manifestations of support towards the Hungarian revolution in 1956. This event affected Murgulescu's position in the government. After a while he was reinstated at the Ministry of Education. He was elected honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He authored a series of didactic books in 7 volumes on Physical chemistry called ''Introduction to Physical Chemistry'' printed between 1976 and 1984. In 1981, Murgulescu became a founding member of the

World Cultural Council The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1982 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...

Notes

References

Magyar Nagy Lexikon (Great Hungarian Lexicon)

External links

Ilie G. Murgulescu l

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murgulescu, Ilie 1902 births 1991 deaths Founding members of the World Cultural Council People from Dolj County Romanian physical chemists Presidents of the Romanian Academy Ministers of education of Romania Rectors of the University of Bucharest Rectors of Politehnica University of Timișoara