János Proszt (chemist)

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János Proszt (also Johann Proszt ; born February 6, 1892 in Budapest ; † July 6, 1968 there ) was a Hungarian chemist ( physical chemistry ).

Life

Proszt was the son of a railway inspector and studied (after he first wanted to become a doctor) chemistry and physics at the University of Budapest (where he still heard Carl von Than and was a student of the professor of physical chemistry Gustav Buchböck ) with a doctorate in chemistry in 1913. The Dissertation was on the molecular states of iodine in solution. After that he was at the University of Berlin until 1914. In Germany in 1913/14 he heard lectures from Walther Nernst , Max Planck and Wilhelm Ostwald . During the First World War, he served as a soldier at the front in the 4th Austro-Hungarian field artillery regiment from 1914 to 1918. From 1919 he was an assistant at the University of Budapest (3rd Chemical Institute at Buchböck) and in 1924 he became an associate professor and in 1927 a full professor of chemistry at the Sopron Mining and Forest Academy , which was the oldest chemical university institute in Hungary (founded in 1763) and from 1934 belonged to the TU Budapest. In 1948 he became a professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Budapest. In 1963 he retired.

plant

He dealt mainly with physical chemistry. At the beginning of his research career he tried for a long time to find a stable polonium isotope in bismuth and tellurium ores (he suspected the existence on the basis of theoretical considerations), but then had to realize that there were no such isotopes beyond bismuth. In Sopron he dealt with flotation and its electrochemical fundamentals, which was important for metal enrichment in ore processing. Through experiments with suspensions of galena and quartz and emulsions of oil and water, he found the most favorable method ( coarse-dispersive systems at the isoelectric point ) and identified the role of ion adsorption at the solid-liquid interface and the dependence of the electrokinetic properties on the particle shape (curvature ) and particle size. He investigated vapor-liquid equilibria in binary mixtures (discovery and naming of Raoult's point , the point on the gas-liquid equilibrium curve that is not influenced by the salt effect) and from the mid-1950s dealt with polarography (polar coulometry with Poós). He also dealt with the chemistry of silicones and held several patents there.

He was classically educated and studied the history of science in chemistry. Among other things, he was active in founding the Hungarian Museum of Chemistry in Várpalota Castle. He spoke and wrote fluent German.

Honors and memberships

In 1953 he and his colleagues Ivan Lipovetz and József Nagy (who was his successor to his chair) received the Kossuth Prize . In 1956 he became a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1962 he received the Order of Merit. In 1968 the Society of Hungarian Chemists held a ceremony for his 75th birthday.

Private

In 1923 he married Gizella Jordan, who had a doctorate in chemistry, the daughter of Károly Jordan , with whom he had three children.

Fonts

  • The Schemnitz Mining Academy as the birthplace of chemical-scientific research in Hungary. Facultas Rerum Metallicarum et Salturariarum Universitatis Regiae Hungaricae, Sopron 1938, DNB 362077908 .
  • Physico-chemical internship (Hungarian), 1934, 10th edition with the participation of other scientists in two volumes 1968

literature

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ According to his own statements, he got away from it because doctors (like postmen) had to climb too many stairs.
  2. ↑ Buchböck was also a student of Nernst and Ostwald. He was very self-critical, which he transferred to his students, and therefore published little.
  3. ↑ As is known today, lead is the last stable element.
personal data
SURNAME Proszt, Janos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Proszt, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian chemist (physical chemistry)
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH July 6, 1968
Place of death Budapest