Hans Paul Kaufmann

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Hans Paul Kaufmann (born October 20, 1889 in Frankfurt am Main ; † October 2, 1971 in Münster ) was a German fat chemist and founder of the German Society for Fat Science (DGF) and the International Society for Fat Research .

Early years (until 1931)

After graduating from high school, Kaufmann studied chemistry in Jena , Heidelberg and Berlin , there a. a. with Emil Fischer . In 1908 he became a member of the Arminia fraternity in Jena in the castle cellar . In January 1912 he received his doctorate from the University of Jena . His doctoral supervisor was the well-known pharmaceutical chemist Ludwig Knorr (1859–1921).

From 1911 to 1914 Kaufmann worked as a research assistant at the University of Jena. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he served in the German army; this delayed his habilitation until May 1916, which he took on leave from the front . Shortly afterwards he was seriously wounded near Verdun .

In 1919 he became associate professor and director of the analytical department of the chemical institute at the University of Jena . Due to the death of Ludwig Knorr in 1921, he had to change to the Pharmaceutical Institute of the University of Jena and first study pharmacy before he could start teaching in 1922.

Scientific career

In 1931, Kaufmann became a full professor of pharmacy at the University of Münster . In 1943 he went to Berlin as Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, but returned to Münster in 1946 as Professor of Pharmacy and Chemical Technology. After his retirement in 1958, he remained director of the Institute for Pharmacy and Food Chemistry until April 1959 .

Although Kaufmann is best known for his work on fats and oils, he did not publish his first related work until 1925. Before that, he had dealt with acetylene , heterocycles and keto-enol tautomerization . He was even co-founder of a chemical factory, the Chemical Works Rudolstadt, which enabled him to gain experience in the field of chemical technology.

After 1925 he published more than 500 scientific papers, many of which were entitled "Studies in the Fat Field, Part X". The main topics were new methods of fat analysis, fat indicators, fat chemistry and the physical properties of fats.

DGF President

Kaufmann was not only an internationally known and respected researcher, but also a distinguished science organizer. In 1936 he founded the German Society for Fat Research (DGF), since 1948: German Society for Fat Science (DGF) as the successor to the Scientific Center for Oil and Fat Research (WIZOEFF). The DGF quickly comprised 1,500 members. Kaufmann took claim for themselves, the DGF before the DC circuit policies of Nazi to have kept German government, yet this was (like all scientific organizations) by the Allies dissolved after the war. In 1948 Kaufmann re-founded the DGF and remained its president until 1968.

International activities

As early as the 1930s, Kaufmann worked as a German representative in the IC (Commission Internationale de l'Étude des Corps Gras, International Commission for the Study of Fats and Oils) founded in 1931, in which the specialist societies a. a. from Germany, Czechoslovakia , Italy , the Netherlands and Switzerland were represented. In 1937 the IC elected Kaufmann as president. International cooperation almost completely collapsed as a result of the Second World War . In 1954 Kaufmann developed an initiative to found an "International Society for Fat Research (ISF)", which was officially launched at the DGF conference on October 25, 1954 in Hanover. During the ISF conference an outstanding scientist will present the "Kaufmann Memorial Lecture".

further activities

On the initiative of the DGF and Kaufmann, the Reich Institute for Fat Research was founded during the Second World War and Kaufmann was appointed honorary director. After the war, Kaufmann founded the German Institute for Fat Research in Münster, which in 1953 was affiliated to the Federal Institute for Dairy Research . In 1964 the institute in Münster became the Federal Institute for Fat Research, which in 1969 was merged with the Institute for Industrial Fat Research belonging to the DGF. The institute was named Institute for Biochemistry and Technology of Fats - HP Kaufmann Institute . The institute has merged into the federally owned Max Rubner Institute .

Kaufmann also initiated the “Association of Directors of Pharmaceutical University Institutes”, which he chaired for more than 10 years. He founded the State Chemical Investigation Office in North Rhine-Westphalia and was its honorary director for 8 years until 1954.

His main activity was that of a university professor. He gave lectures in chemistry and pharmacy, supervised more than 150 doctoral theses and around 1,600 exams. Kaufmann organized (DGF) advanced training courses for pharmacists and courses in fat analysis for chemists. He published a chemical textbook for physicians and a two-volume work "Analysis of Fats and Fat Products". In 1936 he became editor of the "Fettchemischen Rundschau", which he renamed "Fette und Seifen". The magazine was later called "Fette, Seifen, Anstrichmittel" and is now the European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology .

Honors and awards (selection)

The DGF awards him the HP Kaufmann Prize for young scientists and the Kaufmann Memorial Lecture in his honor. Since 2004 the annual meeting of the DGF has been called "HP Kaufmann Days".

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Elsheimer (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1927/28. Frankfurt am Main 1928, p. 242.
personal data
SURNAME Kaufmann, Hans Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German fat chemist, founder of the German Society for Fat Science
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH 2nd October 1971
Place of death Muenster