Leon Paweł Teodor Marchlewski (Polish: ; 15 December 1869 – 16 January 1946) was a Polish

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, the first Director and Honorary Member of the

Polish Chemical Society The Polish Chemical Society () is a professional learned society of Polish chemists founded in 1919 to represent the interests of Polish chemists on the local, national and international levels. History The society was founded of 118 Charter Me ...

. He was one of the founders in the field of

chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and a precursor of clinical chemistry.

Life and career

He was born in 1869 in

Włocławek Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

to father Józef Marchlewski, a merchant, and mother Emilia (''née'' Rückersfeldt), a governess. His older brother was the communist activist

Julian Marchlewski Julian Baltazar Józef Marchlewski (17 May 1866 – 22 March 1925) was a Polish communist politician, revolutionary activist and publicist who served as chairman of the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee. He was also known under the aliase ...

. In 1888, he went to

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and studied chemistry at the

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

. In 1890, he became an assistant to Professor Georg Lunge. After two years, he earned his doctoral degree. He subsequently went to Kersel near

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

where he became an assistant of

Edward Schunck Henry Edward Schunck (16 August 1820 – 13 January 1903), also known as Edward von Schunck, was a British chemist who did much work with dyes. Early life and education Henry Edward Schunck was born in Manchester, the son of Martin Schunck, a ...

. In this period he collaborated with Marceli Nencki and conducted research on the chemical affinity of dyes of the animal and plant world. Between 1896 and 1897, he was on a scientific scholarship granted for his research in the field of

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

from the

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

-based

Academy of Learning Academy of Learning (; AU) was a primary Polish scientific institution during the annexation of Poland established in 1871. It was founded in Kraków as a continuation of the ''Kraków Scientific Society'' (''Towarzystwo Naukowe Krakowskie''). Th ...

(Polish: ''Akademia Umiejętności'', AU). He also taught organic chemistry at the Institute of Science and Technology of the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. In 1900, he returned to Poland and obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

on the basis of his thesis ''Die Chemie des Chlorophylls'' and lecture titled ''Dzisiejszy stan teoryi tautomeryi''. In the years 1900–1906, he worked as a senior inspector at the General Department of Food Research in Kraków headed by Odo Bujwid. He also became a professor at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

and served as the university's rector between 1926–1927 and 1927–1928. From 1906 to 1939 he was Head of the Institute of Medicinal Chemistry. In 1917–1919, he established the National Scientific Institute of Agricultural Economy in

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka River, Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was Cen ...

. He was the first director of the

and served as the first director of

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

in Poland. His scientific work mostly focused on the areas of

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

inorganic 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''. Inor ...

and

analytic chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separa ...

as well as

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

. His scientific achievements include research on

and the blood pigment hemoglobin, which demonstrated the similarity of chemical structures in plants and animals, indicating a common origin. He was

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

for the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

in 1913 and 1914. The illustration on the right is of his diplomatic passport he used in 1927 to attend an international conference on chemistry in Paris. Marchlewski was also a long-time political activist in the Polish peasant movement. In December 1945, he became a member of the National Council, representing the

Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...

. He died several days later and was buried at the

Rakowicki Cemetery Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; ) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' meaning "Old Town" – distinct from ...

Honours

* Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1925) POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski BAR

* Gold Cross of Merit (1936) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog 2nd Class Order of the Dannebrog K

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchlewski, Leon 1869 births 1946 deaths Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery People from Włocławek Polish senators Polish chemists Chemical pathologists Members of the Lwów Scientific Society Rectors of the Jagiellonian University Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta People from Congress Poland Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog ETH Zurich alumni

Life and career

Honours

See also

References

External links