Gerhard Domagk

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Gerhard Domagk (1939)

Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (born October 30, 1895 in Lagow , Brandenburg ; † April 24, 1964 in Burgberg , today part of Königsfeld in the Black Forest ) was a German pathologist , bacteriologist and Nobel Prize winner . He introduced the sulfonamides into medicine as antibiotics (means for chemically fighting bacteria) and thus for the treatment of infections.

Life

Gerhard Domagk was born the son of a school principal. He attended school in Sommerfeld until he was 14 years old . He began studying medicine at the University of Kiel , which he interrupted after the first semester to take part in the First World War as a volunteer . He joined the 8th Leib Grenadier Regiment in Frankfurt an der Oder . In the first year of the war, 1914, he was wounded on the Eastern Front and was then used as a medic until the end of the war. Then he finished his studies.

Domagk began at the University of Greifswald , bacteria caused infections to explore. In 1923 he escaped the serious railway accident at Kreiensen by chance - he had left the train briefly. In 1925 he followed his professor Walter Groß (1878–1933) to the University of Münster and completed his habilitation on the subject of "The destruction of infectious diseases by the reticuloendothelium and the development of amyloid". In the same year he married his wife Gertrud, geb. Strübe, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.

From 1929 onwards, Domagk researched and developed, preferably at the Bayer AG main plant within IG Farben in Wuppertal - Elberfeld . There he led a laboratory for experimental pathology and led as part of an extensive research program of the company for investigation of dyes as antibacterial chemotherapeutics in collaboration with chemists Fritz Mietzsch and Josef Klarer the sulfonamides in the chemotherapy of bacterial infections a. He also developed effective anti- tuberculosis drugs . The first publication on the newly discovered sulfonamides and their antibacterial effects was made by him in 1935 and the drug Prontosil came onto the market in 1936.

For this important discovery he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1939 . However, due to an order from Adolf Hitler , it was forbidden to accept the Nobel Prize from 1937. This was preceded by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the journalist and opponent of the regime Carl von Ossietzky , which had meant a defeat in foreign policy for the National Socialists. The arrangement should prevent repetition.

Domagk was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1942 . From 1944 he was a member of the scientific advisory board of the authorized representative for health care, Karl Brandt .

In 1947 Domagk was able to receive the Nobel Prize for Medicine from the hands of the Swedish king, but without the associated sum of money, which had not been received within a year, as provided for in the foundation's provisions.

Domagk published his book “Pathological Anatomy and Chemotherapy of Infectious Diseases” in 1947 and “Chemotherapy of Tuberculosis with Thiosemicarbazones” in 1950. From 1958 he was a full professor for general pathology at the University of Münster. In 1960 he left Bayer AG for reasons of age.

Domagk died in 1964. His grave is in the Lauheide forest cemetery near Münster.

Awards

Commemoration

Sculpture “ Domagk ” by Tony Cragg (2013) in Wuppertal opposite Domagk's former home

Street names and places

In Munich, the Domagkpark area and Domagkstraße bear his name. From 1967 until its closure in 1982, a lung sanatorium in Ruppertshain ( Taunus ) was named after him.

The pathological institute of the University Hospital Münster is named after him.

Other streets are in Bad Berka , Berlin, Bocholt , Bonn, Bünde , Dormagen , Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hanover, Homburg , Königsfeld in the Black Forest (district Burgberg), Cologne, Leverkusen, Lindau , Ludwigshafen am Rhein , Münster , Neumünster , Vlotho and Wuppertal named after Gerhard Domagk.

Foundation and science award

The "Cancer Research Professor Dr. Gerhard Domagk" foundation, established in 1961 at the University of Münster , awards a research prize financed from foundation funds and endowed with 10,000 euros for scientific achievements that have made outstanding contributions to research into the fight against cancer. The best work on the "metabolism of tumors and its influence" is awarded.

literature

  • Herbert L. Schrader: Gerhard Domagk. The invention of sulfonamides as a remedy and the discovery of new drugs for tuberculosis. In: Hans Schwerte and Wilhelm Spengler (eds.): Researchers and scientists in Europe today. 2. Doctors, biologists, anthropologists (= designers of our time. Volume 4). Stalling, Oldenburg 1955, pp. 143–150 (The editors were SS cadres.).
  • Rosemarie Altstaedter (Ed.): A pioneer who made medical history: a documentation about Prof. Dr. med. Gerhard Domagk on the 50th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize for Medicine , Bayer AG, Health Sector, Health Policy, Leverkusen 1989
  • Bayer AG , Pharmaceuticals Division: Gerhard Domagk 1895–1964. Life memories in pictures and texts. Cologne 1995.
  • Werner E. Gerabek : Domagk, Gerhard. In: Werner E. Gerabek, Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 320 f.
  • Ekkehard Grundmann : Gerhard Domagk. The first winner over the infectious diseases , Lit-Verlag, Münster 2001, ISBN 978-3825840679
  • Thomas Hager: The demon under the microscope. From battlefield hospitals to Nazi labs. One doctor's heroic search for the world's first miracle drug. Harmony Books, New York 2006, ISBN 1-4000-8213-7 .
  • Liselotte Folkerts: Gerhard Domagks work extends to the present , In: Westfälische Nachrichten . July 16, 2007.

Fonts

  • with Carl Hegler : Chemotherapy of bacterial infections , 3rd edition, Hirzel 1944
  • Pathological anatomy and chemotherapy of infectious diseases , Thieme 1947

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Domagk  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner E. Gerabek: Domagk, Gerhard. 2005, p. 320.
  2. ↑ Ekkehard Grundmann: Gerhard Domagk: the first winner over the infectious diseases . Münster 2001, p. 20. The information on the scene of the accident is incorrectly given here.
  3. ↑ Gerhard Domagk: A contribution to the chemotherapy of bacterial infections. In: German Medical Weekly. Volume 61, 1935, p. 250.
  4. ^ Ekkehard Grundmann: Gerhard Domagk. A pathologist conquers the bacterial infectious diseases. In: The Pathologist. Volume 22, 2001, pp. 241-251. doi : 10.1007 / s002920100469
  5. ^ John Lesch: The first miracle drugs. Oxford University Press, 2007.
  6. ↑ Information from the Nobel Foundation on the award ceremony in 1939 to Gerhard Domagk (English)
  7. ↑ cf. Ekkehard Grundmann: Gerhard Domagk - the first winner over the infectious diseases. 2nd Edition. LIT Verlag, Berlin and Münster 2018, pp. 79ff.
  8. ↑ Member entry of Gerhard Domagk (with picture and CV) at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on May 24, 2016.
  9. ^ Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 978-3868203110 , p. 116.
  10. ↑ Albert Gossauer: Structure and reactivity of biomolecules. Helvetica Chimica Acta, Zurich 2006, p. 264, ISBN 978-3-906390-29-1 .
  11. ↑ Gerhard Domagk's résumé in 1943 on the occasion of the award of the honorary senator of the University of Greifswald , there stated "1938"
  12. ↑ Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift , 1940, p. 848.
  13. ↑ Gerhard Domagk's résumé written in 1943 on the occasion of being awarded the honorary senatorial title of the University of Greifswald, given there for 1940 and 1941
  14. ↑ a b Ekkehard Grundmann : Gerhard Domagk. The first winner over the infectious diseases , Lit-Verlag, Münster 2001, ISBN 978-3825840679 , p. 189.
  15. ↑ Gerhard Domagk's résumé in 1943 on the occasion of the award of the honorary senator of the University of Greifswald
  16. ^ Bayer AG [ed.], Gerhard Domagk (1895–1964). Memories of life in pictures and texts , Cologne 1995, p. 165.
  17. ^ Ekkehard Grundmann: Gerhard Domagk. The first winner over infectious diseases , Lit-Verlag, Münster 2001, ISBN 978-3825840679 , p. 110. (Appointed by the Minister of the Interior Heinrich Himmler )
  18. ↑ Frank Ryan: Tuberculosis: The Greatest Story Never Told , Bromsgrove 1992, p. 205.
  19. ^ Leopoldina : Directory of members: Gerhard Domagk , accessed on September 19, 2016
  20. ^ Gerhard Domagk: A groundbreaking invention , Deutsches Ärzteblatt 2013; 110 (33-34), accessed January 18, 2016
  21. ^ Atelier talk with Cragg about the sculpture , accessed on January 18, 2016
  22. ↑ Munich demilitarizes building area. The radio barracks will be called Domagkpark in future. BR.de ( Memento from November 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ^ Website of the University of Münster on the foundation
personal data
SURNAME Domagk, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Domagk, Gerhard Johannes Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pathologist and bacteriologist
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Lagow , Brandenburg
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1964
Place of death Königsfeld in the Black Forest