Günther Weitzel
Karl Günther Weitzel (born May 10, 1915 in Leipzig ; † June 29, 1984 in Tübingen ) was a German biochemist and university professor. In 1962, he founded the world's first course in biochemistry at the University of Tübingen , which was then introduced as a "diploma course in physiological chemistry and biochemistry". Weitzel was a grandson of Carl Georg Weitzel , the founder of the Mittweida technical center.
Life
Günther Weitzel passed his matriculation examination at the Nikolaischule in Leipzig in 1934 and began studying medicine in 1935, also in Leipzig. In 1937 Weitzel began studying chemistry while studying medicine.
Weitzel passed the medical state examination in 1940 and received his doctorate in 1941. med. Weitzel completed his chemistry studies with a diploma in 1942 and subsequently worked as an assistant at the physiological chemical institute at Leipzig University. In 1945 received his doctorate Weitzel with his work on the chemistry of branched dicarboxylic acids under Prof. Karl Thomas Dr. rer. nat. in chemistry.
Günther Weitzel moved to the University of Erlangen in 1946 and moved on to the Medical Research Institute of the Max Planck Society in Göttingen, which was only established in 1947 (today's Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine ). Initially employed as an assistant, Weitzel later became a department head and scientific member of the Max Planck Society, and in 1951 he qualified as a professor in physiological chemistry . In 1954 Weitzel followed a call from the University of Giessen to the full chair of Physiological Chemistry as the successor to Robert Feulgen .
In 1957 Weitzel accepted a call from the University of Tübingen as the successor to Nobel Prize winner Adolf Butenandt . In the appointment negotiations with the University of Tübingen, Weitzel was able to push through a spacious new building for the Physiological-Chemical Institute, which could be moved into in 1964. In 1962, Weitzel also set up the world's first independent course in biochemistry with fixed examination regulations and the recognized degree of diploma biochemist. In 1966 Weitzel became co-editor of Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie (today: Biological Chemistry ) and was significantly involved in the new design of the journal from 1967.
Weitzel has been the author, co-author or supervisor of over 200 scientific publications, the areas of work range from research into biologically relevant trace elements and vitamins to synthetic insulin-like substances to basic mechanisms of chemotherapy against cancer. In addition to scientific publications, Weitzel also made popular scientific contributions and reached a large audience as early as 1964 with visionary predictions on the development of genetics through to synthetic biology, for example in an essay on "ideological aspects of biochemistry".
Weitzel retired in 1980 and died in 1984 at the age of 69.
literature
- Festschrift Günther Weitzel for his 60th birthday . In: "Hoppe-Seyler's Journal for Physiological Chemistry", (356) 1975, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York
- F. Schneider: Günther Weitzel, life, personality and work . In: “Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler “(366) 1985, pp. 609-616, Walter de Gruyter & Co. Berlin, New York online
- A. Herrmann, A. Wankmüller: Physics, Physiological Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Tübingen . In: "Contributions to the history of the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen" (21) 1980, p. 75 ff., Verlag JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Tübingen
- G. Weitzel: ideological aspects of biochemistry . In: “Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau” (17) 1964, p. 220ff.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weitzel, Günther |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Weitzel, Karl Günther (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German biochemist and university professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 10, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leipzig |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 29, 1984 |
| Place of death | Tübingen |