Richard Seifert

This article deals with the German chemist; for the Swiss-British architect see Richard Seifert (architect)

Richard Seifert (around 1907)

Bruno Richard Seifert (born October 19, 1861 in Schmorkau , Upper Lusatia, † June 25, 1919 in Neucoswig , today part of Coswig ) was a German chemist and, from 1907, general director (corresponding to today's chairman ) of the chemical factory v. Heyden . His contemporaries gave him the nickname "chemist by the grace of God". In addition to countless other products, he created the recipe for a mouthwash , which his friend Karl August Lingner successfully marketed as Odol .

Life

Richard Seifert received his training from 1880 to 1885 with Rudolf Schmitt , the head of the chemical department of the Royal Saxon Polytechnic in Dresden , whose most famous student he became. As Schmitt's assistant, he was significantly involved in the development of salicylic acid synthesis, which enabled him to work in the salicylic acid factory of Heyden in Radebeul on June 1, 1885 . His pioneering work there earned him the nickname “chemist by the grace of God”.

With the result of doubling the yield, he introduced the salicylic acid synthesis under CO ₂ developed by Rudolf Schmitt into operational work, which enabled the plant to open up new areas of application. His experience with Salol ^® became a guideline for drug research under the name Salol Principle ; in addition, Salol ^® became one of the essential components of the formulation of a mouthwash antiseptic, which he gave his friend Karl August Lingner for marketing in 1892 after several years of research ( Odol ). The bismuth compounds Xeroform and Noviform , synthesized by Seifert, helped to displace the predominant iodoform . A synthesis of benzoic acid sulfimide patented by him led to the sweeteners Zuckerin and Crystallose .

From 1899 he was, together with the later Commerzienrat Robert Vorländer, director of the Chemische Fabrik v. Heyden renamed the workplace, a development that on the technical side is largely thanks to Seifert. In addition, Seifert built other factories. In 1905 he was awarded the title of professor for his achievements. In 1907 he took over the post of general director from the outgoing Carl Kolbe .

Under Seifert's aegis, the brand name Acetylin was registered for the main product, acetylsalicylic acid , in 1897 . In 1899 Bayer tried in vain to patent its aspirin and the manufacturing process; only the brand name Aspirin was protected. In collaboration with the surgeon Benno Credé , the company developed a silver colloid for wound treatment and disinfection, which was followed by numerous other colloids from Hößle, which was added in 1894. Among them, the silver colloid Collargol and colloids made from mercury, sulfur and iron were important, and the gold mouthpieces for cigarettes , known as bobbins , were very successful . Important products for X-ray technology were the ossal screens and azure screens as well as the Heyden foil and the Heyden cassette .

From 1899, when Seifert took over the post of director, the Chemische Fabrik v. Heyden from 600 employees to 1,500 in 1914.

During the First World War, in addition to the disinfectant creosotine cresol, the plasticizers triphenyl phosphate , tricresyl phosphate and dicresyl phosphate , which are suitable for the manufacture of artificial leather , were developed and produced. The world's first artificial leather was created on the basis of tricresyl phosphate .

Since the end of the 19th century Seifert lived in his own house at today's Wichernstrasse 6b ( Villa Marianne ) in Radebeul.In 1911 he and the businessman Otto Walther owned the Villa Tautzschgenhof at Graue-Presse-Weg 62 on the slope between Wahnsdorf and Build Oberlößnitz .

During the First World War, the overworked Seifert had to relinquish the management of the factory due to "acute exhaustion". Seifert died childless on June 25, 1919 in the Lindenhof mental hospital (today Coswig Specialist Hospital ) in Neucoswig , which is now part of Coswig . The cause was an intestinal inflammation. Seifert was buried in his parents' grave in the old Annenfriedhof in Dresden . The grave has been cleared for a long time, only one entry still exists in the cemetery book for Richard Seifert.

Honor

Memorial plaque of the GDCh at the chemical factory v. Heyden, Meißner Strasse 35 in Radebeul

Since October 1, 2012, the former salicylic acid factory and later chemical factory Dr. F. von Heyden one of the historical sites of chemistry , awarded by the Society of German Chemists (GDCh) as part of a ceremony with a plaque on the main building in Radebeul. This is reminiscent of the work of Jacob Friedrich von Heyden , Adolf Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe , Rudolf Wilhelm Schmitt , Bruno Richard Seifert and Richard Gustav Müller .

literature

• Frank Andert (Red.): Radebeul City Lexicon . Historical manual for the Loessnitz . Published by the Radebeul City Archives. 2nd, slightly changed edition. City archive, Radebeul 2006, ISBN 3-938460-05-9 .
• Andreas Schuhmann, Bernhard Sorms: History of the drug factory Dresden . Ed .: AWD.pharma GmbH & Co. KG. Dresden 2002.

Web links

• Photo by Richard Seifert at the Deutsche Fotothek
• Richard Seifert worked in the Heyden chemical factory near Arevipharma, successor to the Heyden chemical factory

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Andreas Schuhmann, Mathias Bäumel: A tiny entry in the cemetery book. Chemist Richard Seifert did not die in Dresden, but in Coswig . In: Dresdner Latest News . August 29, 2011, p. 16 .
2. ↑ Dresden is often incorrectly given as the place of death.
3. ↑ Bernhard Sorms:  Schmitt, Rudolf. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , p. 241 f. ( Digitized version ).
4. ^ Frank Andert (Red.): Radebeul City Lexicon . Historical manual for the Loessnitz . Published by the Radebeul City Archives. 2nd, slightly changed edition. City archive, Radebeul 2006, ISBN 3-938460-05-9 , p. 181 .
5. ↑ trademark register DE 172902, word-figurative mark "Acetylin" of 20 January 1913. Brand deleted Status: "today"
6. ↑ Volker Helas (arrangement): City of Radebeul . Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony, Large District Town Radebeul (=  Monument Topography Federal Republic of Germany . Monuments in Saxony ). SAX-Verlag, Beucha 2007, ISBN 978-3-86729-004-3 , p. 130 .
7. ^ Medical Council Dr. med. Reginald H. Pierson: On the 100th anniversary of the death of a Coswiger personality of supraregional importance. Part 3: The Lindenhof Sanatorium - Pierson's legacy. ( ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: coswig.de )).
8. ^ Specialized Hospital Coswig