Paul Walden

Paul Walden
Born	July 26 1863(1863-07-26) Wenden near Cēsis, Latvia
Died	January 22 1957 (aged 93) Gammertingen, Germany
Institutions	University of Rostock
Alma mater	University of Riga University of Leipzig University of Odessa
Academic advisor	Wilhelm Ostwald
Known for	Walden inversion

Paul Walden (1863 – 1957) was a Latvian chemist with German background. He was born in the castle Rosenbeck in Wenden near Cēsis in Latvia and initially studied at the University of Riga and St. Petersburg before receiving his doctorate at the University of Leipzig in 1891 with Wilhelm Ostwald.

Walden left Latvia after the Russian Revolution and accepted positions in Germany. The Walden inversion is named after him. Walden also invented ethylammonium nitrate ^[1] as the first example of an ionic liquid. Walden is also known for his 1949 book, History of Chemistry, an excellent synthesis of contemporary historical research in the field.

References

1. ^  P. Walden, Bull Acad. Imper. Sci. (St Petersburg), 1914, 1800
2. A. G. Morachevskii (2003). "Academician Pavel Ivanovich Walden (on 140th Anniversary of His Birthday)". Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry 76 (7): 1186-1190. doi:10.1023/A:1026399420965.
3. Paul Walden (1950). "Aus den Erinnerungen eines alten chemischen Zeitgenossen". Naturwissenschaften 37 (4): 73-81. doi:10.1007/BF00631950.
4. Georg Lockemann (1953). "Paul von Walden, dem Nestor der Chemie, zum 90. Geburtstage am 26. Juli 1953". Naturwissenschaften 40 (14): 373-374. doi:10.1007/BF00589294.
5. P. Günther (1933). "Paul Walden zum 70. Geburtstag". Angewandte Chemie 46 (30): 497 - 498. doi:10.1002/ange.19330463002.