Benno Parthier

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benno Parthier (born  August 21, 1932 in Holleben ; † August 25, 2019 ) was a German biologist .

From 1967 he was head of department at the Institute for Biochemistry of Plants in Halle , which was part of the research community of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR , and in 1975 was appointed Professor of Molecular Biology by the Academy. After German reunification , he acted as founding director in 1991 and then as managing director of the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry until 1997 as a successor to the Academy Institute , and from 1993 to 1998 he was Professor of Cell Biochemistry at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg .

Between 1990 and 2003 he was President of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , of which he was a member from 1974. In 1997 he received the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany and from 2007 was an honorary member of the German Botanical Society .

Life

Benno Parthier was born in Holleben in the Prussian province of Saxony in 1932 . From 1952 to 1957 he studied biology at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and completed his diploma thesis with Kurt Mothes at the Academy Institute for Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben . From 1958 to 1961 he was a research associate at the Institute of Botany at the University of Halle, where he in 1961 with a thesis in the field of biochemistry of plants doctorate and then worked as a research assistant professor to the 1965th After studying at Stockholm University in 1965/1966 , he became head of department in 1966 at the Institute for Plant Biochemistry (IBP) of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (AdW) in Halle . In 1967 he also received his habilitation in Halle and in the same year head of the department for molecular biology at the IBP, eight years later he was appointed professor for molecular biology by the AdW.

From 1984 to 1986 he was Deputy Director and, from May 1990, succeeding Klaus Müntz as Director of the IBP. After German reunification in 1991, he was the founding director of its successor institution, today's Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry , which he also headed as managing director from 1992 to 1997. In addition, he received in 1993 a reputation as a professor of cell biochemistry at the University of Halle. In 1998 he retired . From 1991 he was a member of the Science Council , the most important scientific policy advisory body in Germany, and acted as its deputy chairman from 1992 to 1997.

Benno Parthier's research focused on the genetic , molecular biological and biochemical basics of biosynthesis and the effects of jasmonate , a group of phytohormones , as well as the biosynthesis of nucleic acids and proteins and cell differentiation in plants. He has published about 200 scientific publications and was co-editor of several professional journals . He died on August 25, 2019 at the age of 87.

honors and awards

Benno Parthier was admitted to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1974 and served as a member of the Presidium and Secretary for Natural Sciences from 1978 to 1987 and then as Vice President for Natural Sciences until 1990. Elected the 24th President in the same year, he succeeded the physicist Heinz Bethge in office, which he held until 2003. His successor was the physician Volker ter Meulen . In the same year, the Leopoldina honored him with the Cothenius Medal , the academy's highest honor.

From 1982 he was a corresponding member and from 1988 a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR and since 1994 he has been an extraordinary member of its successor institution, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences . In addition, he was a member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences since 1978 and a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences since 1988 and of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1989 . In 1990 he was admitted to the Academia Europaea and in 1991 to the Academy of Charitable Sciences in Erfurt , and he was also a foreign member of scientific academies in Ukraine and Poland .

From 2007, Parthier was an honorary member of the German Botanical Society , a recognition that, according to the Society's statutes, is granted to a maximum of 25 living personalities. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Bavarian Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg . In addition, he received the Federal Cross of Merit in 1997 and the Hans Olaf Henkel Prize for Science Policy, which was awarded for the first time in 2007 and is awarded by the Leibniz Association . On May 4, 2018, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Saxony-Anhalt for his voluntary commitment to science policy, especially in the difficult role of mediator between the scientists of the new and old federal states as well as between science and politics .

Works

  • From Cell to Molecule: Introduction to Molecular Biology. Leipzig 1971 (as co-author)
  • Proteins: basic substances of life. Leipzig, Jena and Berlin 1976
  • Cell Differentiation: Molecular Basis and Problems. Berlin 1982 (as co-author)
  • The Leopoldina - the existence and change of the oldest German academy . Commemorative publication of the Presidium of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina on the 300th anniversary of the founding of today's Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in 1994. ISBN 3-928466-05-4 .
  • 350 years of Leopoldina - aspiration and reality: Festschrift of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina. Halle 2002 (as co-editor)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leopoldina mourns the loss of her former president Benno Parthier. German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, September 2, 2019, accessed on September 3, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Leopoldina former presidents Parthier and ter Meulen receive the Order of Merit of the State of Saxony-Anhalt , hallespektrum.de, May 5, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Parthians, Benno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German biologist, President of the Leopoldina
DATE OF BIRTH August 21, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Holleben (Teutschenthal)
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 2019