Rudolf Schmitt (August 5, 1830 – February 18, 1898) was a German chemist who together with Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe discovered the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction.

Biography

Schmitt was born in the small village Wippershain in the Hesse-Kassel as the second of eight siblings as son of a preacher. He moved several times during his childhood and entered the Gymnasium as boarding pupil in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approx ...

. He received his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen yea ...

in 1853 and entered the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the worl ...

the same year. He started studying mathematics, theology and chemistry, but later concentrated on chemistry. After 8 Semesters he joined Hermann Fehling at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wi ...

but returned to work with Adolph Kolbe in 1857. For his work on Sulfanilic acid he received his PhD in 1861 and for his work on Salicylic acid he received his habilitation in 1863. He worked at the University of Kassel and later the commercial school in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. Due to an explosion of a glass tube filled with

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The und ...

he lost his right eye in 1869. He spent most of his academic career at the

Dresden University of Technology TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

which was promoted from to a Polytechnicum and in 1890 to a

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

during his stay. He was elected Director of the University in 1891, but had to renounce due to his bad health. He stopped teaching in 1893 for the same reason. Schmitt died at his house in

Radebeul Radebeul ( hsb, Radobyle) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May, and a narro ...

in 1898.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Rudolf 1830 births 1898 deaths 19th-century German chemists Academic staff of the University of Kassel