Hans von Euler-Chelpin Biography

Hans von Euler-Chelpin described the role of enzymes in the process of fermentation and also researched vitamins, tumors, enzymes, and coenzymes. He was an important contributor in the discovery of the structure of certain vitamins. In 1929, he shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry with Arthur Harden for their research on the fermentation of sugar and enzymes. Euler-Chelpin's research has far-reaching implications in the fields of nutrition and medicine.

Hans Karl Simon August von Euler-Chelpin was born in Augsburg in the Bavarian region of Germany on February 15, 1873, to Rigas, a captain in the Royal Bavarian Regiment, and Gabrielle (Furtner) von Euler-Chelpin. His mother was related to the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler. Shortly after his birth, Euler-Chelpin's father was transferred to Munich and Euler-Chelpin lived with his grandmother in Wasserburg for a time. After his early education in Munich, Würzburg, and Ulm, he entered the Munich Academy of Painting in 1891 intending to become an artist. Eventually, he changed his professional interest to science.

In 1893, Euler-Chelpin enrolled at the University of Munich to study physics with Max Planck and Emil Warburg. He also studied organic chemistry with Emil Fischer and A. Rosenheim, after which he worked with Walther Nernst at the University of Göttingen on problems in physical chemistry. This post-doctoral work in the years 1896 to 1897 was undertaken after Euler-Chelpin received his doctorate in 1895 from the University of Berlin.

The summer of 1897 was the first of several that Euler-Chelpin spent in apprentice roles in Stockholm and in Berlin. He served as an assistant to Svante Arrhenius in his laboratory at the University of Stockholm, becoming a privatdocent (unpaid tutor) there in 1899. Returning to Germany that summer, he studied with Eduard Buchner and Jacobus Van't Hoff in Berlin until 1900. His studies during this period centered on physical chemistry, which was receiving a great deal of attention at that time in both Germany and Sweden. Recognition came early to Euler-Chelpin for his work. He received the Lindblom Prize from Germany in 1898.

It was evident during this time that there were new opportunities in organic chemistry. The new equipment used to measure properties could be applied to the complexities of chemical changes that took place in organisms. Euler-Chelpin's interests, therefore, shifted to organic chemistry. He visited the laboratories of others working in the field, such as Arthur Hantzsch and Johannes Thiele in Germany and G. Bertrand in Paris. These contacts contributed to his developing interest in fermentation.

In 1902, Euler-Chelpin became a Swedish citizen and in 1906, he was appointed professor of general and organic chemistry at the University of Stockholm, where he remained until his retirement in 1941. By 1910, Euler-Chelpin was able to present the fermentation process and enzyme chemistry into a systematic relationship with existing chemical knowledge. His book, The Chemistry of Enzymes, was first published in 1910 and again in several later editions.

In spite of being a Swedish citizen, Euler-Chelpin served in the German army during World War I, fulfilling his teaching obligations for six months of the year and military service for the remaining six. In the winter of 1916-1917, he took part in a mission to Turkey, a German ally during World War I, to accelerate the production of munitions and alcohol. He also commanded a bomber squadron at the end of the war.

After the war, Euler-Chelpin began his research into the chemistry of enzymes, particularly in the role they played in the fermentation process. This study was important because enzymes are the catalysts for biochemical reactions in plant and animal organisms. An integral aspect of Euler-Chelpin's work with enzymes was to identify each substrate (the molecule upon which an enzyme acted) in the reaction. He succeeded in demonstrating that two fragments that split from the sugar molecule were disparate in energy. He further illustrated that the less energetic fragment, which is attached to the phosphate, is destroyed in the process. Apart from tracing the phosphate through the fermentation sequence, Euler-Chelpin detailed the chemical makeup of cozymase, a non-protein constituent involved in cellular respiration.

In 1929, Euler-Chelpin was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which he shared with Arthur Harden "for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and of fermentative enzymes." The presenter of the award noted that fermentation was "one of the most complicated and difficult problems of chemical research." The solution to the problem made it possible, the presenter continued, "to draw important conclusions concerning carbohydrate metabolism in general in both the vegetable and the animal organism."

In 1929, Euler-Chelpin became the director of the Vitamin Institute and Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Stockholm, which was founded jointly by the Wallenburg Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Although he retired from teaching in 1941, he continued research for the remainder of his life. In 1935, he had turned his attention to the biochemistry of tumors and developed, through his collaboration with George de Hevesy, a technique for labeling the nucleic acids present in tumors, which subsequently made it possible to trace their behavior. He also helped elucidate the function of nicotinamide and thiamine in compounds which are metabolically active.

Euler-Chelpin was twice married, each time to a woman who assisted him in his research. His first wife, Astrid Cleve, was the daughter of P. T. Cleve, a professor of chemistry at the University of Uppsala. She helped him in his early research in fermentation. They married in 1902, had five children, and divorced in 1912. Euler-Chelpin married Elisabeth, Baroness Ugglas in 1913, with whom he had four children. This marriage lasted for fifty-one years. A son by his first wife, Ulf Euler, later also won a Nobel Prize. His award was made in 1970 in the field of medicine or physiology for his work on neurotransmitters and the nervous system.

Euler-Chelpin was awarded the Grand Cross for Federal Services with Star from Germany in 1959. He also received numerous honorary degrees from universities in Europe and America. He held memberships in Swedish science associations, as well as many foreign professional societies. He is the author of more than eleven hundred research papers and over half a dozen books. Euler-Chelpin died on November 6, 1964, in Stockholm, Sweden.