Richard Adolf Zsigmondy ( hu, Zsigmondy Richárd Adolf; 1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-born
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
. He was known for his research in
colloids
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 extend ...
, for which he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
in 1925, as well as for co-inventing the slit-
ultramicroscope
An ultramicroscope is a microscope with a system that lights the object in a way that allows viewing of tiny particles via light scattering, and not light reflection or absorption. When the diameter of a particle is below or near the wavelength o ...
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, to a Hungarian gentry family. His mother Irma Szakmáry, a poet born in
Martonvásár
Martonvásár is the 11th largest town in Fejér county, Hungary. It's a popular tourist destination in Hungary because of the Brunszvik Palace where Ludwig van Beethoven stayed and wrote "Für Elise". There is also a museum for Beethoven. The tow ...
, and his father,
Adolf Zsigmondy
Dr. Adolf Zsigmondy, aka Adolph Zsigmondy (24 April 1816 in Pozsony (german: Pressburg), Kingdom of Hungary – 23 June 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was a dentist of Hungarian origin who lived in Vienna. He is best known for inventing the ide ...
Sr., a scientist from
Pressburg
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...
(Pozsony, today's
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
) who invented several surgical instruments for use in dentistry. Zsigmondy family members were Lutherans. They originated from Johannes ( hu, János) Sigmondi (1686–1746, Bártfa,
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
) and included teachers, priests and Hungarian freedom-fighters. Richard was raised by his mother after his father's early death in 1880, and received a comprehensive education. He enjoyed hobbies such as
climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...
and
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
with his siblings. His elder brothers,
Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
(a dentist) and Emil (a physician), were well-known mountain climbers; his younger brother,
Karl Zsigmondy
Karl Zsigmondy () (27 March 1867 – 14 October 1925) was an Austrian mathematician of Hungarian ethnicity. He was a son of Adolf Zsigmondy from Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia) and his mother was Irma von Szakmáry of Ma ...
, became a notable mathematician in Vienna. In high school Richard developed an interest in natural science, especially in chemistry and physics, and experimented in his home laboratory.
He began his academic career at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
Medical Faculty, but soon moved to the
Technical University of Vienna
TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...
, and later to the
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
, to study chemistry under Wilhelm von Miller (1848–1899). In Munich he conducted research on
indene
Indene is a flammable polycyclic hydrocarbon with chemical formula . It is composed of a benzene ring fused with a cyclopentene ring. This aromatic liquid is colorless although samples often are pale yellow. The principal industrial use of in ...
and received his PhD from the
University of Erlangen
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
in 1889.
Career
In 1885 Zsigmondy published his very first article as a joint publication with his Viennese professor Rudolf Benedikt on a method of determining
glycerin
Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known ...
. His 1887 article ''Neue Lüster und Farben auf Glas'' (about colours on glass) marked the beginning of a research area on which he would work for another 30 years. Zsigmondy left organic chemistry to join the physics group of
August Kundt
August Adolf Eduard Eberhard Kundt (; 18 November 183921 May 1894) was a Germans, German physicist.
Early life
Kundt was born at Schwerin in Mecklenburg. He began his scientific studies at Leipzig, but afterwards went to Berlin University. At fi ...
at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
.
In July 1892 Zsigmondy held a colloquium at
Graz University of Technology
Graz University of Technology (german: link=no, Technische Universität Graz, short ''TU Graz'') is one of five universities in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research ...
assessed among others by
Albert von Ettingshausen
Albert von Ettingshausen (30 March 1850 – 9 June 1932) was an Austrian physicist.
He was professor of physics at Graz University of Technology, where he also taught electrical engineering.
Earlier he was an assistant to Ludwig Boltzmann at the U ...
and
Friedrich Emich
Friedrich Emich (5 September 1860 – 22 January 1940) was an Austrian chemist. Emich is recognized as the founder of microchemistry and worked at Graz University of Technology. Together with his colleague from the University of Graz, Fritz ...
in order to qualify as assistant professor. There he also completed his
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
in 1893. Because of his knowledge about glass and its colouring, in 1897 the
Schott Glass
Schott AG is a German multinational glass company specializing in the manufacture of glass and glass-ceramics. Headquartered in Mainz, Germany, it is owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The company's founder and namesake, Otto Schott, is credi ...
factory offered him a job which he accepted. He invented the Jenaer Milchglas and conducted some research on the red Ruby glass. Lecturing activities in Graz were documented until 1899.
Zsigmondy left Schott Glass in 1900, but remained in Jena as private lecturer to conduct his research. Together with the optical instrument manufacturer
Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to:
People
*Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur
*Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter
Companies
*Carl Zeiss AG, German manufacturer of optics, industrial measurem ...
, he developed the slit
ultramicroscope
An ultramicroscope is a microscope with a system that lights the object in a way that allows viewing of tiny particles via light scattering, and not light reflection or absorption. When the diameter of a particle is below or near the wavelength o ...
. His scientific career continued in 1908 at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
, where he stayed for the rest of his professional career as professor of inorganic chemistry. In 1925, Zsigmondy received the
Nobel Prize for Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
for his work on colloids and the methods he used, such as the
ultramicroscope
An ultramicroscope is a microscope with a system that lights the object in a way that allows viewing of tiny particles via light scattering, and not light reflection or absorption. When the diameter of a particle is below or near the wavelength o ...
upon which based his investigation on the
Purple of Cassius
Purple of Cassius is a purple pigment formed by the reaction of gold salts with tin(II) chloride. It has been used to impart glass with a red coloration (see ''cranberry glass''), as well as to determine the presence of gold as a chemical test.
...
.
Before Zsigmondy finished his PhD thesis in organic chemistry, he published research on colouring glass with
silver salts
A silver halide (or silver salt) is one of the chemical compounds that can form between the element silver (Ag) and one of the halogens. In particular, bromine (Br), chlorine (Cl), iodine (I) and fluorine (F) may each combine with silver to p ...
and dissolved silver particles, which he recovered by dissolving the glass in
hydrofluoric acid
Hydrofluoric acid is a Solution (chemistry), solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. Solutions of HF are colourless, acidic and highly Corrosive substance, corrosive. It is used to make most fluorine-containing compounds; examples include th ...
.
During his stay in Graz, Zsigmondy accomplished his most notable research work, on the chemistry of
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 extend ...
s. The exact mechanism which yields the red colour of the
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...
or Ruby glass was a result of his studies of colloids.
In later years he worked on gold
hydrosol
Herbal distillates, also known as floral waters, hydrosols, hydrolates, herbal waters, and essential waters, are aqueous products of hydrodistillation. They are colloidal suspensions of essential oils as well as water-soluble components obtained ...
s and used them to characterize
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
solutions. While in Jena he developed the slit
ultramicroscope
An ultramicroscope is a microscope with a system that lights the object in a way that allows viewing of tiny particles via light scattering, and not light reflection or absorption. When the diameter of a particle is below or near the wavelength o ...
together with
Henry Siedentopf
Henry Friedrich Wilhelm Siedentopf (22 September 1872 in Bremen – 8 May 1940 in Jena) was a German physicist and pioneer of microscopy.
Biography
Siedentopf worked in Carl Zeiss company from 1899 to 1938. In 1907 he was nominated as the head ...
. After moving to Göttingen, Zsigmondy improved his optical equipment for the observation of finest nanoparticles suspended in liquid solution. As a result, he introduced the immersion ultramicroscope in 1912.
Together with Wilhelm Bachmann, Zsigmondy developed a new membrane filter (1916). He later transferred his patents to a company established by him, other shareholders and
Sartorius AG
Sartorius AG is an international pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier, covering the segments of Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products & Services. Recent history (since 2000)
In 2015, Sartorius Acquired cell line and process developme ...
which was incorporated to Sartorius in the late 1970s.
Private life
In 1903 Zsigmondy married Laura Luise Müller, with whom he had two daughters, Annemarie and Käthe.
Richard Zsigmondy passed away due to his suffering from arteriosclerosis only a few month after retiring from his university position in Göttingen in early March.
He was a cousin of the architect
Frigyes Schulek
Frigyes Schulek (19 November 1841 – 5 September 1919) was a Hungarian architect,
, whose mother was Auguszta Zsigmondy. He is also related to the violinist
Dénes Zsigmondy
Dénes Zsigmondy (9 April 1922 – 15 February 2014) was a Hungarian classical violinist and music educator.
He was born Dénes Liedemann in Budapest, but changed his name to Zsigmondy, his paternal grandmother's surname, as it was more Hungari ...
.
Ancestry
Honours
*
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
(1925, awarded in 1926)
* Member of the
Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (german: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the second oldest of the se ...
,
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
(since 1914)
* Corresponding member of the Academia de Ciencias de Zaragoza, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and academies/academic societies in Valencia and Harlem.
* Honorary doctorates of TU Wien (1917), Graz University of Technology (1928), and the medical faculty of the
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...
.
Selected publications
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See also
*
Gold number
The Gold Number is the minimum weight (in milligrams) of a protective colloid required to prevent the coagulation of 10 ml of a standard hydro gold sol when 1 ml of a 10% sodium chloride solution is added to it.https://books.google.com/books?id=V3 ...