Rudolf Schmitz (pharmacy historian)

Rudolf Schmitz (born February 17, 1918 in Siegburg , † May 14, 1992 in Bicken (Mittenaar) ) was a German pharmacy historian and founder of the Marburg Institute for the History of Pharmacy.

Life

In his hometown Rudolf Schmitz graduated from the humanistic grammar school in 1937. He then did his military service and military service until 1945 , during which time he studied history and philosophy in Bonn . After his military service, he began his pharmaceutical training with the pharmacist internship in Bicken (Mittenaar) . From 1947 to 1950 he studied pharmacy at the Philipps University in Marburg . In 1952 Rudolf Schmitz received his doctorate under Horst Böhme with a pharmaceutical-chemical dissertation for Dr. phil. and then continued his history studies. In 1957 he completed his habilitation in the subject of " History of Pharmacy ". He set up a corresponding seminar and in 1965 it became an independent institute.

After he was appointed professor that year , he was both scientifically and organizationally committed to the expansion of this subject, for which there was no separate institution in German-speaking countries. His professorship is the only C4 professorship for the history of pharmacy in Germany that was founded by the Federal Association of German Pharmacists' Associations (ABDA). After he retired in 1986, he headed the Institute for the History of Pharmacy for two years, which also developed into an internationally respected center for teaching and research.

In addition to managing the institute, Schmitz was a university representative as a delegate of the Hessian Chamber of Pharmacists (1960 to 1986), President and Board of Directors of the Society for the History of Science (1971 to 1974), the "Association of Professors at Pharmaceutical University Institutes of the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin" ( 1976 to 1985), the DGF Senate Commission for Humanism Research (1978 to 1986) and the German Pharmaceutical Society . From 1972 to 1984 Rudolf Schmitz was a scientific advisor in a German-Indonesian development aid project he founded. Because he also dealt with current issues in pharmacy, he was appointed to the Federal Health Council (1981 to 1989), the “Working Group for Pharmacy Licensing Regulations” (1982 to 1985) and the “Advisory Committee for Pharmaceutical Training” at the EC Commission ( 1988 to 1991).

In addition to the history of pharmacy , he also dealt with the history of botany and chemistry . There are about 300 publications by himself, and there are also 124 dissertations that were completed under his direction. Nine of Schmitz's students became university professors themselves.

After his death, his wife Ursula Schmitz set up the "Professor Rudolf Schmitz Study Foundation" in memory of her husband in December 2001. She endowed this with 200,000 marks in foundation capital, which is held in trust by the “Association for the Promotion of the Institute for the History of Pharmacy at the Philipps University of Marburg e. V. "is managed. The foundation aims to promote research into the history of pharmacy associated with the Marburg Institute through grants , research and printing grants .

Awards

• 1966: Schelenz plaque from the International Society for the History of Pharmacy
• 1979: Great Decoration of Honor from Gadjah Mada University (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
• Urdang Medal from the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy
• 1981: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
• 1983: Badge of Honor of the German Pharmacists
• 1984: Large Federal Cross of Merit
• 1993: Carl Mannich Medal of the German Pharmaceutical Society (posthumous)

Publications (selection)

• About German pharmacies of the 13th century. A contribution to the etymology of the term apotheca-apothecarius. In: Sudhoff's archive. Volume 45, 1961, pp. 289-302.
• with S. Lefrère: History of the Hamburg pharmacies 1818–1965. 1966.
• Mortar, piston, etc. Vials, from the world of pharmacy. 1966; Reprint (extended by a foreword) Graz 1978.
• The German Pharmaceutical-Chemical University Institute. 1969.
• with A. Geus , E. Greber, G. Kauffmann u. J. Leib: The natural sciences at the Philipps University of Marburg 1527–1977. 1978.
• with Gundolf Keil (Ed.): Humanism and Medicine. Weinheim 1984 (= German Research Foundation: Communications from the Commission for Research on Humanism. 11).
• 100 years of German pharmaceutical history. 1990.
• as editor: History of Pharmacy, I: From the beginnings to the end of the Middle Ages; II: From the early modern period to the present. Eschborn 1998-2005.
• with Franz-Josef Kuhlen: History of Pharmacy, I: From the beginnings to the end of the Middle Ages. 1998.

literature

• Christoph Friedrich, Fritz Krafft: Promotion of the history of pharmacy - “Professor Rudolf Schmitz Studienstiftung” established at the Institute for the History of Pharmacy.
• Peter Dilg:  Schmitz, Rudolf. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , pp. 255 f. ( Digitized version ).