Gedeon Richter
| Gedeon Richter | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
23 September 1872 Ecséd, Hungary |
| Died | 30 December 1944 (aged 72) Budapest, Hungary |
| Nationality | Hungarian |
| Occupation |
pharmacist, businessman |
Gedeon Richter (23 September 1872 – 30 December 1944) was a Hungarian pharmacist and the founder of the modern Hungarian pharmaceutical industry.
Richter was born in Ecséd, Hungary, but due to the death of his parents, from 1873 he grew up in Gyöngyös. From 1890 he worked there as a trainee pharmacist. In 1895 Richter completed his degree in pharmacology with a high mark at the Budapest University. Two years later, he travelled to several European pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies, studying their drug manufacturing methods. In 1901 he bought the pharmacy named as the Eagle at the corner on the Üllői Road and Márton Street in Budapest, producing organo-therapeutic drugs. In 1907, in Kőbánya, on 63 Cserkesz Street, he built, and took charge of, the first pharmaceutical factory in Hungary. The factory had its first major success with a kind of Aspirin called Kalmopyrin, and the disinfectant hydrogen peroxide in tablets called Hyperol, which were patented in 1912 and went on to play an important role in the World War I. Before the war, he already had 24 pharmaceutical patents.
By the start of World War II, his pharmaceutical network had representatives on five continents, with 10 subsidiaries and in 34 states with commission repositories.
In 1942, he was stripped from his position as director (due to anti-Semitic laws), and banned from his factory. Then he managed the company from his home with the staff he trusted. In the autumn of 1944 the factory activity was almost completely paralyzed. Even though he had the opportunity to leave Budapest and move to Switzerland, he did not want to leave the company. His wife and himself were hidden by Raoul Wallenberg with more than a thousand other Jews. After being caught, Richter was murdered by the Hungarian "nyilas" fascists (Arrow_Cross_Party) in December 1944, along with others shot, and thrown into the ice cold Danube.
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