2020-09-23 Wed

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy was an Austrian-Hungarian chemist known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925. The crater Zsigmondy on the Moon is named in his honour.

He was born on 1st April 1865 in Vienna, Austrian Empire, to Hungarian parents Irma Szakmaryand and Adolf Zsigmondy Sr., a scientist who invented several surgical instruments for use in dentistry.

Zsigmondy began his academic career at the University of Vienna Medical Faculty but soon moved to the Technical University of Vienna, and later to the University of Munich, to study chemistry under Wilhelm von Miller. In Munich, he conducted research on indene and received his PhD in 1889.

In 1925, Zsigmondy received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on colloids and the methods he used, such as the ultramicroscope. Here is an image of a stamp honouring Dr Zsigmondy, issued by Austria in 1979, within the series of Nobel Prize Winners.

Image Source: http://www.scientificlib.com/