Fritz Markwardt

Fritz Markwardt (born  December 3, 1924 in Magdeburg ; † September 10, 2011 in Erfurt ) was a German doctor and pharmacologist who worked from 1961 to 1991 as professor and institute director at the Medical Academy in Erfurt . In the 1950s he succeeded in isolating and characterizing the anticoagulant substance hirudin from leeches . In addition, he published a textbook entitled “General and Special Pharmacology” , which appeared in six editions between 1972 and 1989.

Life

Fritz Markwardt in 1924 in Magdeburg and studied, after serving in the Navy and a pharmacy teaching at the University of Greifswald 1950-1955 Pharmacy and 1955-1960 Medicine . He obtained a scientific doctorate from the University of Greifswald and a doctorate in medicine in 1960 , and in 1956 he also received a scientific habilitation there under Paul Wels with a thesis on "Investigations on Hirudin" . In 1960 he completed his habilitation in pharmacology with the thesis "Pharmacology of anti-coagulants".

Fritz Markwardt was initially appointed lecturer for pharmacy in Greifswald and in 1960 professor with teaching assignment for pharmacology. In the following year he moved to the Medical Academy in Erfurt , where he held a full professorship for pharmacology until his retirement in 1991 and was director of the Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, whose focus on hemostasis research he shaped during these three decades.

Fritz Markwardt was married and had a daughter who became a doctor and a son. In his free time he painted and sailed, and in his home town of Frienstedt he was also an active sponsor of the Friends of St. Laurentius Church. He was neither a member of the SED nor of any other bloc party . In 2011 he died in Erfurt .

Scientific work

The focus of Fritz Markwardt's scientific work was the isolation and synthesis of inhibitors of the blood coagulation enzymes as well as the investigation of their chemical structure and pharmacological effects . Other activities related to active ingredients for activating and inhibiting fibrinolysis and inhibiting the function of platelets . In the 1950s he succeeded in isolating the anti-coagulant substance hirudin from the homogenized heads of leeches and in their biochemical - pharmacological characterization.

This work is still the main basis for the medical application of hirudin and for the development of recombinant hirudin preparations, in the use of which he was also involved for therapeutic purposes. At his suggestion, for example, recombinant hirudin was successfully used as an anticoagulant in hemodialysis for the first time worldwide by nephrologists from Erfurt, following experimental studies in his institute .

Awards

From 1975 Fritz Markwardt was a corresponding and from 1981 a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR . From 1965 he was also a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , and in 1990 he was accepted as a full member of the Academy of Non-Profit Science in Erfurt . He was also a member of the Academia Europaea . He received the Rudolf Virchow Prize in 1962 , the National Prize of the GDR in 1966 and the Schmiedeberg plaque in 2000, the highest award from the German Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology . In the GDR he was also awarded the honorary title of Senior Medical Officer (OMR).

Works (selection)

• Antifibrinolytics. Jena 1967 (as co-author)
• Manual of Experimental Pharmacology. Volume 27: Anticoagulants. Berlin 1971 (from editor)
• Fibrinolytics and antifibrinolytics. Jena 1972 (as co-editor)
• Manual of Experimental Pharmacology. Volume 46: Fibrinolytics and Antifibrinolytics. Berlin, Heidelberg and New York 1978 (as editor)
• General and special pharmacology. Berlin 1972, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1989 and licensed editions Stuttgart 1974, 1976 (as editor)
• Medical pharmacology. Two volumes. Leipzig 1985 and licensed edition Stuttgart 1985 (as publisher)

literature

• Markwardt, Fritz . In: Werner Hartkopf:The Berlin Academy of Sciences. Its members and award winners 1700–1990. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1992,ISBN 3-05-002153-5, p. 231.
• On the history of the discovery of hirudin: Götz Nowak, Karsten Schrör : Hirudin - The Long And Stony Way From an Anticoagulant Peptide in The Saliva of Medicinal Leech to a Recombinant Drug and Beyond In: Thrombosis and Haemostasis . 98 (1 )/2007. Schattauer Publishers Stuttgart, pp. 116-119, ISSN  0340-6245
• Knut-Olaf Haustein: Professor Dr. med. Dr. phil. Dr. hc Fritz Markwardt on his 80th birthday . Ärzteblatt Thüringen 15 (2004), 619–620

Web links

• Literature by and about Fritz Markwardt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature about Fritz Markwardt in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fritz Markwardt: Studies on Hirudin. In: Natural Sciences . 42 (19) / 1955, pp. 537/538, doi: 10.1007 / BF00630151 , bibcode : 1955NW ..... 42..537M .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Markwardt, Fritz . In: Werner Hartkopf: The Berlin Academy of Sciences. Its members and award winners 1700–1990. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-05-002153-5 , p. 231.
3. ↑ Prof. Dr. Dr. Fritz Markwardt on his 65th birthday. In: Folia Haematologica. 116 (5-6) / 1989. Verlag von August Hirschwald, pp. 809ff., ISSN  0323-4347
4. ↑ Information according to the catalog of the German National Library
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Member entry of Fritz Markwardt at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on October 27, 2009.
6. ↑ Anticoagulants. In: Ralph Landau, Basil Achilladelis, Alexander Scriabine: Pharmaceutical Innovation: Revolutionizing Human Health. Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia 1999, ISBN 0-941901-21-1 , p. 202
7. ↑ Klaus Starke: There can be the trace of our earth floors - On Pharmacologists and Pharmacology. In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology . 380 (5) / 2009, pp. 465-471, doi: 10.1007 / s00210-009-0443-7 .
8. ↑ See entry in the directory of members of the Academy of Charitable Sciences in Erfurt ( Memento of November 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 27, 2009.
9. ↑ See entry in Academia Europaea Directory 2009 ( memento of January 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), p. 43, accessed on October 27, 2009 (PDF; 416 kB).
10. ↑ DGPT: Page no longer available , search in web archives: Award of the O. Schmiedeberg plaque to Prof. Drs. F. Markwardt and honorary membership to Prof. Dr. W. Klinger  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on October 27, 2009; PDF; 22 kB)