Ernst Späth

Ernst Späth ( born May 14, 1886 in Bear, Moravia, † September 30, 1946 in Zurich ) was an Austrian chemist and professor at the University of Vienna. His field was the alkaloid chemistry. He succeeded in the first total synthesis of mescaline.

Life

Späth, the son of a blacksmith, visited the school in the Moravian- Neustadt (today Uničov ) and graduated in 1905. 1906 he began his studies in Vienna and received his PhD in 1910 under Rudolf Wegscheider. From 1910 to 1914 he was an assistant at 1 Institute of Chemistry, University of Vienna. In World War I he commanded a battery and held the rank of First Lieutenant. In 1917 he became a lecturer and associate professor in 1923 real. 1924 we appointed him to full professor of the 2nd Chemical Institute. In 1925 he was korrespontierendes and 1926 member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. From 1937 to March 1938 he was rector of the University of Vienna. In 1938 he became General Secretary in 1945 and President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

By the Association of German Chemists, he was awarded during the Nazi regime with the actually conferred only on German Liebig Medal.

In the arcades of the University of Vienna is a bronze bust of the chemist. It was produced after a plaster sculpture by Zita Heinrich (1882-1951) and erected in 1961. Another cast is 38th in the entrance area of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna Währinger Straße