László Berczeller

Berczeller's grandfather Samuel Deutsch, painting by Miklós Barabás

Ex-libris for László Berczeller by Emma Löwenstamm , around 1910

László Berczeller (also: Ladislaus Berczeller , born August 9, 1890 in Budapest ; † November 14, 1955 in Sainte-Maurice ) was a Hungarian doctor or bio- or food chemist. He mainly worked with soy and is considered one of the most important pioneers in the field of soy-based foods in Europe.

Life

László Berczeller was the eldest son of a Jewish family. His father Imre Berczeller was a doctor. His mother Josefa or Josephine was a daughter of the rich businessman Samuel Deutsch. László Berczeller's younger brothers had the first names Pál and Antal. On February 5, 1918, Berczeller married Selma Buchwald, a daughter of Ignatz Buchwald and Rosa Buchwald, née Jeiteles, in the Vienna city ​​temple . At that time he was still resident in Budapest, while his bride was registered in Vienna. There were no children from the marriage.

Berczeller's interest in soy was aroused in Berlin in 1913 , where he took part in a meal at the Japanese Club and got in touch with a Japanese professor, to whom he owed his first information about soy-based foods. In 1914 Berczeller became professor of biochemistry at the University of Budapest. After the outbreak of the First World War he was in the service of the government - probably in Vienna. He then worked for a Dr. Wasserman in Vienna and had an assistant position to Professor Franz Tangel . Probably in the course of his work at the Physiological Institute of the University of Vienna, he became aware of the work of Friedrich J. Haberlandt , who had also dealt with soy.

From around March 1920 Berczeller worked with the chemist Robert Graham, who was particularly concerned with the possibilities of alleviating the famine in Europe and Russia with soy flour. It is unclear who of the two scientists was in charge. In any case, in 1921 Berczeller submitted his first patent application in Austria, which had to do with soy. The patent was approved in 1927 under number 106,346. Berczeller and Graham applied for a German patent on January 26, 1921 and received it on November 16, 1924 under the number 406.170. Also in 1921, Berczeller, now again in Austria, applied for a patent relating to the production of mixed bread from soybeans. He received it on June 25, 1924 under number 97.252. Further patent applications and approvals in various countries followed. Berczeller, Graham and their co-workers first developed soy milk, soy flour and bread, whose ingredients included soy flour. They gave each of these products a name that included the word manna , and from 1921 Berczeller published numerous publications on these foods. He emphasized the low manufacturing costs and high nutritional value of his products. His work with Graham led to a conflict with the university. As early as 1920 he had been reprimanded for not fulfilling his duties at the university to a sufficient extent. In May 1921 he had to give up his job at the university and now dealt exclusively with soy food. In about 1923 he appears to have separated from Graham and continued to work on his own. Its soy flour was unanimously recognized as the best on the market in the 1920s and 1930s. The cleaned soybeans were steamed for 12 to 15 minutes and then dried, peeled and ground. The flour was kept at room temperature for 20 months and had no unpleasant aftertaste.

Berczeller continued to develop this production process and began to travel the world in the 1920s doing propaganda for soy foods. He benefited from his extensive language skills. In 1924, Winston Churchill was one of his audience. In 1926 and 1930 he visited the Soviet Union, where he received the title of Honorary General of the Red Army. In 1927, the Italian Ministry of War established the Commissione per lo Studio della Soja; In 1929 Berczeller discussed with Benito Mussolini his plans to introduce soy flour in the production of polenta and bread, and contacted the French government. He had further contacts with Joseph Stalin , Dorothy Thompson and numerous other high-ranking military figures around the world. He stayed in London for a long time and also traveled to Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Portugal to promote soy nutrition.

Nevertheless, he had to contend with resistance and resentment. Conservative-minded people were not so easily persuaded to switch their diet to soy products to a large extent. Another problem for Berczeller were companies that developed their own production processes. Berczeller lost several lawsuits for the payment of royalties in the 1930s. It was not until 1934 that he won a lawsuit against Hamburg's Hansa-Mühle, in which, among other things, the name “noble soy” that Berczeller had been using since 1928 was involved. From 1932 onwards, the Edelsoja company sold its products in Germany. It is unclear what relationship she had with Berczeller.

In 1934 Berczeller's wife, who was convinced of National Socialism, divorced him. Possibly she later worked under the name Soulange Berczeller for Meals for Millions in California .

It can be seen as an irony of history that Berczeller's work for starving mankind benefited National Socialism of all things: soon after Hitler came to power, IG Farben acquired licenses for Germany, Austria and probably other countries from Berczeller. Before World War II , Germany imported around a million tons of soybeans, a large part of which were processed using Berczeller's methods. But the later opponents of the war, the French army, also bought Berczeller's soy products. In October 1939 he was invited to France where he was supposed to boost soy production in southern France. But the German invasion of France put an end to this work. Berczeller went into hiding because of his Jewish origins and lived in hiding until the liberation in spring 1945. At times he was supported by the Quaker Aid Service , but in 1945 he was malnourished and plagued by numerous physical complaints. In the post-war period, when soy was used to combat malnutrition in entire nations, he was unable to contribute much. He was never compensated for the patents used by the Germans during the Third Reich.

In 1948 he underwent an operation in Switzerland for a pulmonary fistula, which was followed by other health problems. In 1949 he collapsed on the Paris metro and was hospitalized. In 1951 he was admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Saint Remy, and in 1953 he was placed in the Maison de Santé de Saint-Maurice in Switzerland, where he was looked after by Professor Baruk . Apparently one diagnosed his suffering as megalomania or something like that. After no funds were available for placement in a nursing home, he was apparently placed permanently in the asylum for the mentally ill. Dr. Clive McCay , a Cornell University soy expert . He later reported that Professor Verzar from the University of Basel had appealed to him to ask the soy industry for support for Berczeller in order to be able to accommodate him appropriately. McCay was immediately pessimistic, and his sad predictions came true: There was only one reaction to his appeal. A full ten dollars were donated to Berczeller's worthy retirement.

A grave site free of charge for five years in the cemetery of the institution was granted to him. In 1967 he was transferred to a grave that his biographer Arnould had funded. In 1974, the city of Paris sought a permanent burial site for László Berczeller, who had intended to eradicate hunger in the world.

Aftermath

Edelsoja GmbH continues to sell noble soy in Germany. Berczeller is not mentioned in the company's history. Winkler has been producing soy flour in Vienna since 1947; but it is not known whether he used Berczeller's methods. An article in the Soybean Digest from March 1944 summarized the history of Berczeller and its products under the title It Began in Vienna. The Dramatic Story of Soy Flour together. Berczeller's friend Arnould published the first biographical summary of the soy enthusiast in 1960. It appeared in the December issue of the Revue d'Histoire de la Medicine Hebraique on pages 153 to 168. Henri Baruk published another Berczeller biography in the Histoire des Sciences Medicales from April / June 1974 on pages 235 to 239.

Four letters from 1931 from László Berczeller to Albert Einstein are documented in the Einstein Archives Online.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berczeller's date of birth is controversial; August 9, 1890 is stated on his marriage certificate.
2. ↑ Joachim Drews: The "Nazi Bean". LIT Verlag Münster 2004, ISBN 978-3-825-87513-8 , p. 42 ( limited preview in the Google book search)
3. ^ William Shurtleff: Clive M. McCay and Jeanette B. McCay - History of Work with Soyfoods, the New York State Emergency Food Commission, Improved Bread, and Extension of Lifespan (1927-2009): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook. Soyinfo Center, 2009, ISBN 978-1-928-91427-3 , p. 60 ( limited preview in Google book search)
4. ^ William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi, Biography of Laszlo (Ladislaus) Berczeller (1890–1955) and History of his Work with Edelsoja Whole Soy Flour at www.soyinfocenter.com
5. ↑ Letters to Einstein at alberteinstein.info