Geheimrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in Ge ...

'' Julius Wilhelm Theodor Curtius (27 May 1857 – 8 February 1928) was professor of Chemistry at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

and elsewhere. He published the Curtius rearrangement in 1890/1894 and also discovered diazoacetic acid,

hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly hazardous unless handled in solution as, for example, hydraz ...

and

hydrazoic acid Hydrazoic acid, also known as hydrogen azide, azic acid or azoimide, This also contains a detailed description of the contemporaneous production process. is a compound with the chemical formula . It is a colorless, volatile, and explosive liquid ...

.In 1882 he carried out the first ever peptide synthesis, creating the N-protected dipeptide, benzoylglycylglycine

History

Theodor Curtius was born in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

in the Ruhr area in Germany. He studied chemistry with

Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (; 30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...

and with

Hermann Kolbe Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe (27 September 1818 – 25 November 1884) was a German chemist and academic, and a major contributor to the birth of modern organic chemistry. He was a professor at Marburg and Leipzig. Kolbe was the first to apply t ...

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. He received his doctorate in 1882 in Leipzig. After working from 1884 to 1886 for

Adolf von Baeyer Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German chemist who synthesised indigo dye, indigo and developed a Von Baeyer nomenclature, nomenclature for cyclic compounds (that was subsequently extended a ...

at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, Curtius became the director of the analytical chemistry department at

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

until 1889. Then he accepted the chair in Chemistry at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, where he remained very productive. In line with this success, Curtius was appointed Geheimer Regierungsrat ( Privy Councillor) in 1895. After a one-year appointment as the successor of the famous

August Kekulé Friedrich August Kekulé, later Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz ( , ; 7 September 1829 – 13 July 1896), was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekulé was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially ...

Bonn University The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Will ...

in 1897, Curtius succeeded

Victor Meyer Viktor Meyer (8 September 18488 August 1897) was a German chemist and significant contributor to both organic chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry. He is best known for inventing an apparatus for determining vapour densities, the Viktor Meye ...

as Professor of Chemistry at his old university in Heidelberg in 1898, where he remained until his retirement in 1926. He was succeeded by Karl Freudenberg, who wrote Curtius' biography in 1962. In his free time, he also composed music, sang in concerts, and was an active mountaineer. In 1894 he founded the Kiel section of the Association of German and Austrian Alpinists, which he personally supported with gifts. In his Munich period, he became a close friend of the alpinist guide Christian Klucker, with whom he made mountaineering hikes for many years thereafter. Theodor Curtius died in Heidelberg on 8 February 1928. The Heidelberg University Archives has, in its possession, a photo album from 1907 marking the 25th anniversary of Theodor Curtius receiving his Doctorate. It shows pictures of science scholars, buildings, and labs such as the physio-chemical, pharmaceutical, and organics labs, and much more.

Major publications by Curtius

Curtius wrote over 300 publications. Several had a significant impact on chemical science. * Diazo- und Azoverbindungen der Fettreihe, Barth, Leipzig (1888) * Studien mit Hydrazin, Barth, Leipzig, Bd 1,2 (1896), Bd 3,4 (1918) * Einwirkung von Basen auf Diazoessigester, Berlin (1911) * Die reduktion der aromatische Aldazine und Ketazine, Barth, Leipzig (1912) * Hydrazide und Azide der Azidofettsäuren, Berlin (1912) * Die Einwirkungen von Hydrazin auf Nitroverbindungen, Barth, Leipzig (1913) * * * *

Curtius family

The Curtius family is historically from Bremen area. Several other members of the family were notable.

References

Sources

External links