Hans Erlenmeyer

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Hans Friedrich Albrecht Erlenmeyer (born March 20, 1900 in Strasbourg ; † May 29, 1967 in Basel ) was a German-Swiss chemist and collector of antiquities. He was professor for inorganic chemistry at the University of Basel .

Live and act

Hans Erlenmeyer came from a family of chemists, even his grandfather Emil Erlenmeyer and his father Emil Erlenmeyer jun. were professor of chemistry. Erlenmeyer therefore studied chemistry in Jena and Berlin from 1918 to 1922 , where he received his doctorate in 1922 ( on asymmetric synthesis ) and was Bernhard Lepsius' assistant . In 1925 he became an assistant to Friedrich Fichter in Basel, completed his habilitation in inorganic chemistry in 1927 and became an associate professor in Basel in 1933. In 1941 he succeeded Fichter as a full professor and head of the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry.

In around 500 publications he dealt with structural chemistry and immunochemistry , in particular basic research for the chemotherapy of tuberculosis . He had been a Swiss citizen since 1934 . He helped many people persecuted by National Socialism at his institute in Basel.

Together with his second wife Marie-Louise Erlenmeyer (1912–1997) he collected prehistoric and ancient art from Greece and Mesopotamia . The purchases took place between 1943 and the early 1960s. The Erlenmeyers lent some of their pieces to the Antikenmuseum Basel and major international exhibitions and wrote scientific publications in the field of archeology themselves. In the late 1950s or early 1960s they bought large parts of the so-called keros hoard from the early Cycladic culture from an art dealer of Greek descent. These included the largest known Cycladic idol, as well as over 150 fragments of other idols, as well as ceramics and other objects. Greece later made claims for restitution of the greatest idol because like the entire hoard it came from a robbery and was illegally smuggled out of the country. Since this happened before the UNESCO Convention on the Prohibition and Prevention of the Unlawful Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property from 1970, the actions of the collectors were viewed as bona fide.

Jack L. Benson named the Corinthian Erlenmeyer painter after a piece from the collection .

In 1981 Marie-Louise Erlenmeyer founded the Erlenmeyer Foundation for the benefit of animal and species protection . For the benefit of this foundation, the collection was auctioned off in several auctions at Christie's and Sotheby’s between 1988 and 1998, and the proceeds were transferred to the foundation. The President of the Board of Trustees is Kurt Aeschbacher .

literature

Auction catalogs of the Erlenmeyer Collection

  • Ancient Near Eastern texts from the Erlenmeyer Collection. 13 December 1988 . London, Christie's 1988
  • The Erlenmeyer collection of Cretan seals. The property of the Erlenmeyer Foundation which will be sold at Christie's Great Rooms on Monday 5 June 1989 . Christie's, London 1989
  • The Erlenmeyer collection of Ancient Near Eastern stamp seals and amulets. The property of the Erlenmeyer Foundation which will be sold at Christie's Great Rooms on Tuesday 6 June 1989 . Christie's, London 1989
  • Cycladic and Classical Antiquities from the Erlenmeyer Collection. The property of the Erlenmeyer Foundation (a foundation for animal welfare). Monday 9th July 1990 . Sotheby's, London 1990
  • Western Asiatic cylinder seals and antiquities from the Erlenmeyer Collection (Part I). Thursday 9th July 1992 . Sotheby's, London 1992
  • Antiquities including Western Asiatic cylinder seals and antiquities from the Erlenmeyer Collection (Part II). Thursday 12 June 1997 . Sotheby's, London 1997
  • Antiquities and Islamic art. Including antiquities and Western Asiatic seals from the Erlenmeyer Collection,… June 4, 1998 . Sotheby's, New York, 1998

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data, publications and academic family tree of Hans FA Erlenmeyer at academictree.org, accessed on February 4, 2018.
  2. ^ Rita Reif: Auctions - The New York Times. In: nytimes.com. July 6, 1990, accessed April 25, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Erlenmeyer Foundation in Basel - address & more - moneyhouse. Commercial register deduction. In: moneyhouse.ch. Retrieved April 25, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Erlenmeyer, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Erlenmeyer, Hans Friedrich Albrecht (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Swiss chemist and collector of antiquities
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1967
Place of death Basel