Wilhelm Traube

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Wilhelm Traube

Wilhelm Traube (born January 10, 1866 in Ratibor , Upper Silesia , † September 28, 1942 in Berlin ) was a German chemist.

Life

The son of the Silesian private scholar Moritz Traube completed his chemical studies in Heidelberg , Breslau , Munich and Berlin after briefly studying law . During his studies in 1884 he became a member of the Academic Scientific Association in Breslau . His teachers included August Wilhelm von Hofmann , Adolf von Baeyer and Karl Friedrich Rammelsberg . In 1888 he started with a work on the addition products of cyanic acidPhD. From 1897 on, Traube was an assistant at the Pharmacological Institute in Berlin, from 1902 senior assistant at the Pharmaceutical Institute and adjunct professor.

In 1911 he became an associate professor and in 1929 a full professor. At the suggestion of Emil Fischer , Traube became head of the Department of Chemistry (Analytical Department) at the University of Berlin. His ingenuity is reflected in many patents in the fields of cellulose chemistry and metal complex salts. He became internationally known for a process for caffeine synthesis . The Traubesche synthesis of purine from cyanoacetic acid ester and urea developed by him and named after him has u. a. gained importance in the pharmaceutical industry. He did not accept a call as full professor at the University of Kiel .

To identify barium in nuclear fission products, Otto Hahn used an organic barium salt that came from grapes.

Traube was a board member of the German Chemical Society and in 1926 became a member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina .

Traube had a passion for music and played the piano. In the curriculum vitae for the doctorate, Traube mentions Protestant religion.

Wilhelm Traube was of Jewish descent and was a victim of the National Socialist racial madness. His license to teach at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin was revoked in 1935 under the law to restore the civil service . First he suffered discrimination and restrictions from the Nazi rulers (e.g. signature: "Dr. Wilhelm Israel Traube, ID card J Berlin A 370 523"); his property was confiscated in favor of the empire. In September 1942, Traube's deportation was imminent and he wanted to kill himself with hydrogen cyanide on the night of September 11th . Otto Hahn persuaded him not to do that and to wait. On the morning of September 11th, Traube was arrested by the Gestapo after breaking the door and died in prison as a result of the abuse and beatings he suffered while resisting the arrest. Otto Hahn and Walter Julius Viktor Schoeller tried to save their friend, Traube, on the same day, formally with success, but they were a few hours late.

Wilhelm Traube was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee , the grave without a memorial stone has been preserved.

His brother was Hermann Traube (1860–1913).

Commemoration

Stolperstein , Sybelstrasse 61, in Berlin-Charlottenburg

On April 1, 2014 , a stumbling block was laid in front of his former home, Berlin-Charlottenburg , Sybelstrasse 61 .

literature

  • Pringsheim, H .: F. Hahn: Wilhelm Traube for his 60th birthday. Magazine f. applied chemistry 39 (1926) 61–67 - This article contains a list of many publications by Wilhelm Traube
  • WILHELM TRAUBE doctoral procedure (report, curriculum vitae, dissertation, examination protocol, doctoral certificate). (Archive of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Philosophical Faculty, 1888, Littr. P, No. 4, Vol. 46, Bl. 1–24)
  • Personnel file of the associate Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Traube (Archive of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Philosophical Faculty, Volume 87, Bl. 1–43)
  • Personnel file of the o. Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Traube (Archive of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Philosophical Faculty, Volume 87, Bl. 1–10)
  • Henrik Franke: Moritz Traube (1826-1894) - life and work of the universal private scholar and pioneer of physiological chemistry. Med. Dissertation 1994, University Library of the Humboldt University Berlin, call number 94 HB 1449.
  • Henrik Franke: Moritz Traube (1826–1894): From wine merchant to academician. "Studies and sources on the history of chemistry", Volume 9, Verlag für Wissenschafts- und Regionalgeschichte Dr. Michael Engel, ISBN 3-929134-21-7
  • Traube, Wilhelm . In: Walther Killy , Rudolf Vierhaus (ed.): Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie . Vol. 10. Saur, Munich 1999 ISBN 3-598-23170-9 , p. 71

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Traube  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report on the second decade of the Academic Scientific Association in Breslau. Breslau 1894, p. 11.
  2. ↑ Member entry of Wilhelm Traube at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on June 18, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Traube, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chemist
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Ratibor
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1942
Place of death Berlin