Hermann Emil Fischer
Born	9 October 1852 Euskirchen , Rhine Province
Died	15 July 1919, aged 66 Berlin , Germany
Occupation	Chemist
Known for	Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902

Hermann Emil Fischer (9 October 1852 ? 15 July 1919) was a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902. ^[1]

Fischer was the founder of the chemistry of primary natural products: carbohydrates , purines and nucleosides , peptides and proteins . Amongst his many discoveries were the structure of carbohydrates, and he was the first to get synthetic peptides. He studied the active principles of tea , coffee and cocoa , namely, caffeine and theobromine .

Fischer also proposed the lock & key model of enzyme action.

Family [ change | change source ]

Fischer was married to Agnes Gerlach in Feb. 1888, but she died seven years after their marriage. They had three sons, named Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer (16. Dec. 1888 - 09. Mar. 1960) Walter (05. Jul. 1891 ? 04. Nov. 1916) and Alfred (3. Oct. 1894 ? 29. Mar. 1917). Alfred was killed in World War I , Walter committed suicide at the age of 25 as a result of compulsory military training.

His eldest son Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer, was Professor of Biochemistry in the University of California, Berkeley from 1948 until his death in 1960. ^[2]

Death [ change | change source ]

At the end, suffering from terminal cancer, he is thought to have committed suicide in 1919. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Emil Fischer is burried at Friedhof Wannsee, Lindenstraße and since 1956 named as grave of honor for extraordinary services or achievements in his lifetimes.

References [ change | change source ]