Adolf von Baeyer | |
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von Baeyer in 1905
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Born | Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer October 31, 1835 Berlin, Prussia (German Confederation) |
Died | August 20, 1917 Starnberg, (Bavaria) German Empire |
(aged 81)
Nationality | Germany |
Fields | Organic chemistry |
Institutions |
University of Berlin Gewerbe-Akademie, Berlin University of Strasbourg University of Munich |
Alma mater | University of Berlin |
Doctoral advisor | Friedrich August Kekulé |
Doctoral students |
Emil Fischer John Ulric Nef Victor Villiger Carl Theodore Liebermann Carl Gräbe |
Known for | Synthesis of indigo, phenolphthalein and fluorescein; Von Baeyer nomenclature |
Influenced | Otto Hahn |
Notable awards | Davy Medal (1881) Liebig Medal (1903) Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1905) Elliott Cresson Medal (1912) |
Spouse | Adelheid Bendemann (m. 1868; 3 children) |
Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (German: [ˈbaɪɐ]; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German chemist who synthesised indigo, developed a nomenclature for cyclic compounds (that was subsequently extended and adopted as part of the IUPAC organic nomenclature) and was the 1905 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Baeyer was born in Berlin as the son of Johann Jacob Baeyer (1794-1885), a Prussian officer who reached the rank of lieutenant general and a well-known geodesist, and his wife Eugenie Hitzig (1807–1843). His father was a Lutheran. His mother was daughter of Julius Eduard Hitzig, member of the Jewish Itzig family, who converted to Christianity in order to marry his father. Baeyer had four sisters: Clara (1826-) Emma (1831-), Johanna (Jeanette) (1839-), Adelaide (†1843) and two brothers: Georg (1829-), Edward (1832-). Baeyer lost his mother at young age while she was giving birth to his sister Adelaide.
Although his birth name was Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer, he was known simply as "Adolf Baeyer", throughout most of his life. The poet Adelbert von Chamisso and the astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel were his godparents. On his 50th birthday he was raised to the hereditary nobility by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, conferring on him the “von” distinction.