Theo Goldschmidt

Theo Goldschmidt (born March 11, 1883 in Berlin ; † May 2, 1965 in Seeheim (Bergstrasse) ; full name: Theodor Heinrich Hermann Goldschmidt ) was a German chemist and chemical entrepreneur .

Life

Theo Goldschmidt was the eldest son of Karl Goldschmidt and grandson of the founder of the chemical factory Th. Goldschmidt , Theodor Goldschmidt, who converted to Protestantism . He attended the Burggymnasium in Essen and studied chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden , the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and the Kaiser Wilhelm University of Strasbourg . 1908 doctorate he with a dissertation About cathodic Metallzerstäubung in dilute gases to Dr. rer. nat. and then joined the family company , which was run as a stock corporation from 1911 , which was then headed by his father Karl and his brother Hans.

During the First World War he was battery leader of the 1st Mountain Battery under General Franz Ritter von Epp , most recently with the rank of captain .

In 1923 he succeeded his father as CEO of Th. Goldschmidt AG . He led the company through the difficult times of the Great Depression in the early 1930s, later through the Second World War, and remained CEO until 1958. After that he was on the board of directors until his death .

Under his leadership, the company diversified from metallurgy to specialty chemicals and expanded worldwide. Otherwise, as a chemist, he did not stand out through his own research.

He initially welcomed the National Socialist takeover of power in Germany, but later rejected National Socialism. This was expressed, among other things, in his commitment to the Folkwang Museum , which his father already supported. Goldschmidt himself was a collector and was opposed to the National Socialists' official taste in art.

After the end of the war, Goldschmidt was President of the Essen Chamber of Commerce from 1945 to 1953 . He had good connections to politicians in the young Federal Republic such as Ludwig Erhard and Theodor Heuss and sat on the supervisory boards of Commerzbank and Feldmühle AG .

He was a senator of the Max Planck Society and until 1953 treasurer of the Association of German Chemists, the forerunner of the Society of German Chemists . In 1953 he was appointed honorary president of the Essen Chamber of Commerce and Industry and, together with Karl Ziegler, received the first Carl Duisberg plaque . In 1954 he received an honorary professorship at the Technical University of Hanover and in 1958 the Great Federal Cross of Merit with a star.

He last lived on the family seat in Seeheim.

literature

Erwin Dickhoff: Essen heads. Who was what Bracht, Essen 1985, ISBN 3-87034-037-1 , p. 75.

Web links

Short biography on the Evonik website , last accessed on January 6, 2018

Individual evidence

↑ The local Gauleitung suspected the family of being Jews because of their name, which was then clarified. - Helmut Maier : chemist in the “Third Reich”. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-527-33846-7 , p. 46. (with short biography)

personal data
SURNAME	Goldschmidt, Theo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Goldschmidt, Theodor Heinrich Hermann (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German chemist and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH	March 11, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	May 2, 1965
Place of death	Seeheim (Bergstrasse)

[1] The local Gauleitung suspected the family of being Jews because of their name, which was then clarified. - Helmut Maier : chemist in the “Third Reich”. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-527-33846-7 , p. 46. (with short biography)