Joseph Jacob Goldmark (15 August 1819 – 18 April 1881) was a

Hungarian American Hungarian Americans ( Hungarian: ''amerikai magyarok'') are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people wit ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

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 t ...

, credited with the discovery of

red phosphorus Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus. White phosphorus White ...

Life and career

Born in Németkeresztúr, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) to a Jewish family of 18 children, Goldmark entered 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 hist ...

at age 16, studying

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

. He developed an interest in chemistry under the influence of Anton Schrötter von Kristelli. Both are credited with the discovery of

, which Goldmark presented to the Convention of Hungarian Physicians and Naturalists. A revolutionist in his youth, Goldmark took part as a leader in the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

, along with

Adolf Fischhof Adolf Fischhof (Hungarian: Fischhof Adolf) (8 December 1816 – 23 March 1893) was a Hungarian-Austrian writer and politician of Jewish descent. After studying medicine (1836–1844) he was appointed physician at the Vienna hospital. Fischhof ...

, fighting for Jewish emancipation. When the revolution was stamped down, Goldmark was sentenced to death but managed to escape to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and settle in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. While developing the Brooklyn factory of Goldmark and Conried, he continued to be active in politics during the rest of his life. He amassed a great deal of property to leave to his large family, which included daughters Helen (wife of Felix Adler), Pauline, and Alice (wife of Louis Brandeis), and Josephine. Goldmark's brother

Karl Goldmark Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer.Peter Revers, Michael Cherlin, Halina Filipowicz, Richard L. Rudolph The Great Tradition and Its Legacy 2004; , p. ...

was a composer and music teacher in Vienna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldmark, Joseph 1819 births 1881 deaths People from Oberpullendorf District Hungarian Jews Members of the Imperial Diet (Austria) Hungarian chemists Forty-Eighters