Wiktor Kemula (November 6, 1902, in

Izmail Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...

– October 17, 1985, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

) 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 ...

, electrochemist, and polarographist. He greatly contributed to the development of electroanalytical

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 ...

, particularly polarography. He is known for developing the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE).

Life and career

He was born in 1902 in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(present-day Ukraine). In 1921, he graduated with honours from secondary school in Izmail and enrolled at the Jan Kzimierz University in Lwów to study chemistry. Between 1929–1930, he was on a scholarship at the

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

where he studied under Jaroslav Heyrovský and in 1930–1931 he was in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

where he studied under Peter Debye and Fritz Weigert. In the years 1936–1941, he was Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Jan Kazimierz University. In 1936, he became a member of the Lwów Scientific Society. In the period of Soviet occupation of Lviv, he continued his scientific research in the city and taught chemistry at the secret Jan Kazimierz University. In 1945, he became a professor at the University of Warsaw. In 1955, he was elected president of the Polish Chemical Society. In 1961, he became a full member of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

(PAN). He invented the hanging mercury drop electrode (HDME) and contributed to the development of electroanalytical chemistry, especially polarography. In 1965, he was awarded the Centenary Prize by the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

(RSC). Between 1981–1985, he served as head of the Warsaw Scientific Society ( Polish: ''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie''). In 1982, he received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the University of Warsaw.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemula, Wiktor 1902 births 1985 deaths People from Izmail People from Izmailsky Uyezd People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent 20th-century Polish chemists University of Lviv alumni Victims of post–World War II forced migrations Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland

Life and career

See also

References