Gerhard Domagk
| Gerhard Domagk | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk 30 October 1895 Lagow, Brandenburg (now Poland) |
| Died | 24 April 1964 (aged 68) Burgberg |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Bacteriology |
| Alma mater | University of Kiel |
| Known for | Development of sulfonamides such as Prontosil |
| Notable awards |
Nobel Prize in Medicine (1939) Fellow of the Royal Society (1959) |
| Spouse | Gertrud Strube |
| Children | One daughter and three sons |
Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (30 October 1895 – 24 April 1964) was a German pathologist and bacteriologist. He is credited with the discovery of Sulfonamidochrysoidine (KI-730) – the first commercially available antibiotic (marketed under the brand name Prontosil) – for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Domagk was born in Lagow, Brandenburg, the son of a school headmaster. Until he was 14, he attended school in Sommerfeld (now Lubsko, Poland). Domagk studied medicine at the University of Kiel, but volunteered to serve as a soldier in World War I, where he was wounded in December 1914, working the rest of the war as a medic. After the war, he finished his studies, and worked at the University of Greifswald, where he researched infections caused by bacteria.
In 1925, he followed his professor Walter Gross to the University of Münster (WWU) and became professor there himself. He also started working at the Bayer laboratories at Wuppertal. The same year, he married Gertrud Strube (1897-1985). Later they would have three sons and a daughter.
Domagk was appointed director of Bayer's Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology, where he continued the studies of Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch, based on works by Paul Ehrlich, to use dyes, at that time a major product of IG Farben, as antibiotics. He found the sulfonamide Prontosil to be effective against , and treated his own daughter with it, saving her the amputation of an arm.
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