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Franz Sondheimer

Franz Sondheimer was a German-born British chemist who headed organic chemistry at the Weizmann Institute and received the Israel Prize in 1960.

1926 to 1981Chemistry of the annulenesSynthesis of steroid hormonesIsrael Prize in exact sciences

Born: 17 May 1926, Stuttgart
Died: 11 February 1981, Stanford
Occupation: chemist
Education: Highgate School

Franz Sondheimer was born in 1926 in Stuttgart

Sondheimer was born in Stuttgart in 1926, the second son of Max and Ida Sondheimer. His father ran a family glue business. The family moved to London in 1937, and he began school in England without knowing English.

He attended Highgate School and then studied at Imperial College in London. He earned a PhD in 1948 for work on acetylenic compounds.

In 1948 he joined Woodward's steroid synthesis group at Harvard. Early in 1952 he became head of research at Syntex in Mexico City, where he helped develop short routes to cortisone and the major sex hormones.

In 1956 he was appointed head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute, where he worked on the chemistry of the annulenes. In 1963 he took a Royal Society Research Professorship at Cambridge, and in 1967 he moved to University College London.

Sondheimer suffered from prolonged depression. He died in 1981 in his office at Stanford, where he was on sabbatical, apparently by suicide.

Franz Sondheimer's life in 9 milestones

1926
Born in Stuttgart.
1937
Moved with his family to London.
1948
Earned a PhD at Imperial College and moved to Harvard.
1952
Became head of research at Syntex in Mexico City.
1956
Appointed head of organic chemistry at the Weizmann Institute.
1960
Received the Israel Prize in exact sciences.
1963
Took a Royal Society Research Professorship at Cambridge.
1967
Moved to University College London and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
1981
Died at Stanford.