Louis Hugo Frank

Plaque at Yamanashi University

Detail of the plaque

Louis Hugo Frank (born June 2, 1886 in Leipzig , † October 8, 1973 in San Francisco ) was a German physical chemist . He worked as a lecturer in Japan for 36 years .

Career

In 1909 he was awarded at the Humboldt University of Berlin Dr. Ph. Of physical chemistry.

In 1913 he became a lecturer ( lecturer of commodities ) at the Otaru Commercial College . He then read from 1926 to 1943 electrochemistry and the German language at the Yamanashi Technical College , the predecessor institution of the Yamanashi University in Kofu .

Due to political allegations during World War II, he was forced to quit teaching and had to leave the country. His eldest son, falsely charged, died in prison.

Act

He was a pioneer in his field in Japan. He was the only foreign lecturer in the sixty-year history of the Yamanashi Technical College . He has taught over 2,500 students in Japan for 36 years. His places of activity were Kofu and Otaru . One of his students was probably Kobayashi Takiji , a member of the Japanese Communist Party and author of proletarian literature, who was tortured to death by the police in 1933.

monument

The monument to him was donated to express gratitude for his efforts, to show shame for the sins of the Japanese, and to pray for peace. (Free translation from the English inscription, drawn up in August 1986 on behalf of over 500 of his friends and former students.)