Magda Staudinger

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Hermann and Magda Staudinger in Stockholm in 1953

Magda Staudinger , Latvian Magda Štaudingere , born as Magda Voita, in German spelling Magda Woit, (born August 17, 1902 in Elva , Livonia Governorate , Russian Empire ; † April 21, 1997 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a Latvian biologist and botanist, who studied macromolecules and their application in biology with her husband Hermann Staudinger . She was recognized as his collaborator when he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and published seven volumes of his work after his death. She was awarded the Grand Order of the Latvian Academy of Sciences for her services to the advancement of science . For her services to science and her work for UNESCO , Magda Staudinger was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class in 1972 and the Great Federal Cross of Merit in 1982. The German UNESCO Commission made her an honorary member in 1985.

biography

Magda Staudinger was born on August 17, 1902 as the daughter of the Latvian doctor and later diplomat Oskars Voits . As a child, she traveled a lot through Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. She was fluent in English, French, German and Russian. She was also an accomplished pianist and violinist . She settled in Germany for her studies at the Free University of Berlin . She studied plants with Gottlieb Haberlandt and completed her studies in natural sciences in 1925 . She then continued her studies at the University of Latvia in Riga under Nikolajs Maltas until she completed her doctorate in 1927. In that year Magda married Hermann Staudinger , who would later win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and moved with him to the University of Freiburg in Germany. She met Hermann after the Latvian state examination and in the summer of 1927 studied at the Biological Institute on Heligoland . Hermann recently published results on cellulose models and Magda was working on algae cell membranes . From that point on, they began to work together on macromolecules and their chemical structure .

In the 1940s she returned to the application of macromolecule studies to biology, and from 1945 carried out experiments on living cells. In 1946, Hermann founded the journal Makromolekulare Chemie, which dealt with developments in macromolecular chemistry. Magda Staudinger was a member of the journal's editorial committee. When Hermann received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he recognized Magda's collaboration in his research. Between 1937 and 1956 she published 30 scientific papers on molecular mass and microscopic evaluations of fiber morphology and colloids . Between 1969 and 1976 Staudinger edited and published seven volumes of her husband's collected works.

She has been involved in social policy since the late 1940s and was elected to the board of the German Association of Women Academics in 1952, which she represented in the " International Federation of University Women " (until 1968) and, from 1961, in the German Commission for UNESCO . From the mid-1960s she was one of the key figures in the establishment of the UNESCO program “Man and the Biosphere” (MAB) on a global level. Convinced of the necessity of a "new partnership between man and nature", she initiated groundbreaking seminars in the FRG and was responsible for the German delegations at the "Biosphere Conference" in 1968 and the 16th General Conference of UNESCO in 1970, where the decision to found the MAB program fell. From 1970 to 1975 she was chairman of the scientific committee of the German UNESCO Commission and was a member of the German MAB National Committee from its founding until the 1990s.

In 1990 she was made an honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, and in 1991 she set up a fund to support those studying biology, chemistry and medicine in Latvia. In 1995 Staudinger established a foundation, the Magda and Hermann Staudinger Fund , for the benefit of retired members of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, which can be used for scholarships or other compensation at the academy's discretion . In 1996 she was awarded the Grand Order of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

Staudinger died on April 21, 1997 and was buried next to her husband in the main cemetery in Freiburg .

Selected Works

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  2. ↑ Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija: Magda Štaudingere – Voita (Magda Staudinger-Woit) , accessed on October 20, 2018 (Latvian).
  3. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  4. ↑ Percec 2014, p. 42.
  5. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  6. ↑ "Magda Štaudingere-Voita (Magda Staudinger Woit)" (in Latvian). Riga, Latvia: Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija. November 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  7. ↑ ^ "History of the Botanical Garden". Riga Latvia: Latvijas Universitāte Botāniskais dārzs. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  8. ↑ Magda Štaudingere – Voita (Magda Staudinger – Woit) "(in Latvian). Riga, Latvia: Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija. November 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  9. ↑ Percec 2014, p. 42.
  10. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  11. ↑ Percec 2014, p. 89.
  12. ↑ Percec 2014, p. 130.
  13. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  14. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  15. ↑ Percec 2014, p. 130.
  16. ↑ Percec 2014, p. 42.
  17. ↑ "Magda Štaudingere-Voita (Magda Staudinger Woit)" (in Latvian). Riga, Latvia: Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija. November 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  18. ↑ UNESCO today 2/2007. https://www.unesco.de/fileadmin/medien/Dokumente/unesco-heute/unesco-heute-2-07.pdf .
  19. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  20. ↑ "Magda Štaudingere-Voita (Magda Staudinger Woit)" (in Latvian). Riga, Latvia: Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija. November 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  21. ↑ Ogilvie & Harvey 2000, p. 1223.
  22. ↑ "Magda Štaudingere-Voita (Magda Staudinger Woit)" (in Latvian). Riga, Latvia: Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija. November 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  23. ^ "Dr Magda Woit Staudinger". Find-a-grave. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Staudinger, Magda
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Štaudingere, Magda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian biologist and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Elva , Estonia
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 1997
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau