Leopold Ružička
| Leopold Ružička | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Lavoslav Stjepan Ružička 13 September 1887 Vukovar, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia) |
| Died | 26 September 1976 (aged 89) Mammern, Switzerland |
| Citizenship |
Austria-Hungary (1887–1917) Switzerland (1917–1976) |
| Nationality | Croatian, Swiss |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
| Institutions | ETH Zurich |
| Alma mater | Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe |
| Doctoral advisor | Hermann Staudinger |
| Doctoral students | George Büchi |
| Known for | Terpenes |
| Notable awards | Marcel Benoist Prize (1938) Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1939) Faraday Lectureship Prize (1958) |
Leopold Ružička ForMemRS (13 September 1887 – 26 September 1976) was a Croatian-Swiss scientist and winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry who worked most of his life in Switzerland. He received eight honoris causa doctorates in science, medicine, and law; seven prizes and medals; and twenty-four honorary memberships in chemical, biochemical, and other scientific societies.
Ružička was born in Vukovar, Croatia, then part of Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family of craftsmen and farmers was mostly of Croat origin, with a Czech great grandparent, and a great grandmother and a great grandfather from Austria.
Ružička attended the classics-program secondary school in Osijek. He changed his original idea of becoming a priest and switched to studying technical disciplines. Chemistry was his choice, probably because he hoped to get a position at the newly opened sugar refinery built in Osijek.
Due to the excessive hardship of everyday and political life, he left and chose the High Technical School in Karlsruhe in Germany. He was a good student in areas he liked and that he thought would be necessary and beneficial in future, which was organic chemistry. That is why his physical chemistry professor, Fritz Haber (Nobel laureate in 1918), opposed his summa cum laude degree. However, in the course of his studies, Ružička set up excellent cooperation with Hermann Staudinger (a Nobel laureate in 1953). Studying within Staudinger's department, he obtained his doctor's degree in 1910. With Staudinger, Ružička went to Zurich and was his assistant.
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