Theodor Svedberg

The ( Theodor ) Svedberg ( pronunciation: [ ˌ te ː ː sve dbæɹʝ ], born August 30, 1884 in Valbo, Gävle Municipality, † February 26, 1971 in Kopparberg ) was a Swedish chemist.

Svedberg began in 1904 to study at the University of Uppsala. In 1905 he presented the check to the candidate from philosophy. This was followed in 1907 and 1908, the philosophy philosophy licentiat doctor. Already from 1907 Svedberg worked at the University as a lecturer in chemistry. From 1908 to 1912 he lectured in physical chemistry. In this field he was in 1912 appointed professor. Svedberg in 1913 became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

He performed primarily research on colloids (solutions of finely dispersed macromolecules, such as proteins in water). For this purpose he constructed ultracentrifuge, with whom he was then able to determine, among other things, the molecular masses of proteins. Svedberg was awarded for his work on disperse systems in 1926 the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He determined, inter alia, the sedimentation coefficient of the respiratory blood proteins of Nereis (hemoglobin ) and octopus ( hemocyanin ).

According to him, the unit of sedimentation coefficient, the Svedberg unit S is denoted that indicates the speed at which deposited large molecules or small particles in the unit acceleration field of an ultracentrifuge. Svedberg was a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Svedberg was 1909-1915 married to the doctor Andrea Andreen. The marriage produced two children, the architects Hillevi Svedberg and Elias Svedberg went out.

The lunar crater is Svedberg named after him. The Department of Physics at the University of Stockholm also has an auditorium named after him.