Osman Achmatowicz facts for kids
Osman Achmatowicz (born April 16, 1899 – died December 4, 1988) was a Polish chemist. He came from a family of Lipka Tatars, a group of Tatars who settled in Poland. He spent his career studying natural products, especially a type of chemical called alkaloids.
His son, Osman Achmatowicz Jr., also became a chemist. He is known for discovering a special chemical reaction called the Achmatowicz reaction in 1971.
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A Young Chemist's Journey
Osman Achmatowicz was born on March 16, 1899, in a place called Bergaliszki. He was one of eight children in a well-known family. His father, Alexander Achmatowicz, was a lawyer.
He went to school in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 1916, he started studying at the Mining Institute there. However, a big revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, stopped his studies. He then worked for a short time in a coal mine.
In 1919, he moved to Poland, which had just become an independent country. He continued his studies at Vilnius University.
Becoming a Doctor of Chemistry
In 1924, Osman Achmatowicz earned his master's degree in chemistry. He then spent three years working with Professor Casimir Slawinski. In 1928, he earned his first doctorate degree. His research was about a complex natural compound called bornylene.
After this, he received a special scholarship from the National Culture Fund of Poland. This allowed him to do more advanced research for two years at Oxford University in England. There, he worked with famous professors like William Henry Perkin and Robert Robinson. At Oxford, he earned a second PhD, focusing on the structures of important natural compounds like strychnine and brucine.
New Discoveries in Chemistry
When he returned to Poland, Achmatowicz continued his research at Vilnius University. He focused on chemicals found in the strychnos plant. He developed a new way to break down certain chemical compounds. This method became very important for chemists to understand how organic compounds are built. Because of his work, he became a "docent" in 1933, which meant he was qualified to teach at a university.
In 1934, Achmatowicz became a professor at the University of Warsaw. With more money and better labs, he was able to do even more research. He and his team found new ways to change and break down chemical compounds.
Exploring Plants for Medicine
Achmatowicz also started looking for useful chemicals in Polish plants. He was especially interested in plants used in traditional Polish medicine. His colleagues suggested he study club mosses (like Lycopodium clavatum) and water lilies (like Nuphar lutea).
After two years, Achmatowicz worked with a Polish pharmaceutical company called Spiess and Son. They successfully found and described several new alkaloids from these plants. Alkaloids are natural compounds that often have strong effects on the body.
War and Its Impact
In September 1939, World War II began when Germany invaded Poland. This stopped all of Achmatowicz’s research. His laboratory and all his research notes were destroyed by bombs. The Germans also closed all universities in the areas they controlled.
During the war, other chemists in Canada and Germany continued his work on club moss alkaloids. Achmatowicz himself secretly taught groups of students in Warsaw and Czestochowa.
Rebuilding After the War
After the war ended, Professor B. Stefanowski asked Achmatowicz to become the leader (called a "rector") of the new Lodz University of Technology. He worked in this role until 1952. He needed money to build new labs for the chemistry department.
Through his connection with Robert Robinson, Achmatowicz received a generous grant from the British Royal Society. General Stanisław Kopański also provided more money. By 1948, the university had modern research facilities.
At his new university, Achmatowicz started studying how to use chemicals from coal tar. He also looked into how chemical reactions happen. He worked with other chemists to find new ways to create certain compounds called sulfones.
A major focus of his research became a simple compound called carbonyl cyanide. Another Polish chemist, R. Malachowski, had discovered it in 1937 but died before he could study it.
Achmatowicz's team published 15 papers to fully understand carbonyl cyanide. They found that it could react with other chemicals in different ways, leading to new compounds.
Later Research and Retirement
In the 1950s, Achmatowicz continued his research on alkaloids from Lycopodium and Nuphar plants. His lab received funding from the National Culture Fund and the Polish Academy of Sciences.
From 1953, he also worked as an undersecretary in the Polish Ministry of Higher Education. While in the capital city, he also started a research team at Warsaw University.
After he left the ministry in 1960, his lab could use new techniques like chromatography and spectroscopy to study alkaloids. These techniques quickly led to important discoveries:
- He identified 17 different alkaloids from Lycopodium annotinum and selago.
- He found and described the structure of a new alkaloid called clavatine.
- He also corrected the chemical formulas for annotoxine and annotin.
His studies on Nuphar luteum alkaloids were especially important. Between 1960 and 1962, Achmatowicz and his team found four new alkaloids containing sulfur from this plant, including thiobinupharidine. The discovery of this new group of alkaloids was considered one of the most important achievements in organic chemistry that year.
In the 1960s, he also returned to studying strychnine with his son Selim and other colleagues.
In 1964, Achmatowicz moved to London to become the director of the Polish Cultural Institute in London. He led the institute successfully for five years. In 1969, he retired and spent his time enjoying classical music and history.
Of his three children, both of his sons became organic chemists. His daughter, Emilia Kryczynska, was a writer and translator.
Osman Achmatowicz passed away on April 16, 1988, in Warsaw. He was buried in the family grave at the Muslim cemetery there.
Important Roles and Awards
Osman Achmatowicz held several important positions and received many awards for his work:
International Representation
- He was the Director of the Polish Cultural Institute in London from 1964 to 1969.
- He represented Polish chemistry at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Chemical Society in London in 1964.
- He was part of the Polish delegation at the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris in 1954. He even led the natural sciences part of the meeting.
- He was a special guest at the British Science Association meeting in Bristol in 1955.
- He led a group of Polish university leaders to Great Britain in 1957. They were even received by the Queen Mother.
Awards and Honors
- He received the State Prize of the 1st degree in 1964 from the Minister of Higher Education.
- He was awarded the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland and the Order of Millennium in 1966 for "discovering new alkaloids and studying their structure."
- He was recognized as a "Merited Culture Activist" in 1969.
- He received the Officer Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1951 and the Commander Cross of the same order in 1954.
- He was awarded the Order of the Banner of Labor, First Class, in 1969.
- He received an honorary doctorate degree from the Lodz University of Technology in 1960.
Scientific Groups and Positions
Osman Achmatowicz was a member of many important scientific organizations:
- He became a member of the Polish Academy of Letters and Sciences in 1945.
- He was a member of the Warsaw Scientific Society and the Łódź Scientific Society, both starting in 1945.
- He became a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1952.
- He was an honorary member of the Polish Chemical Society from 1980, and he served as its deputy president from 1937 to 1939.
- He was a life member of the Chemical Society in London.
- He was also a member of the American Chemical Society and the Swiss Chemical Society.
- He served on the scientific boards of important chemistry journals like Tetrahedron and Index Chemicus.
- He was a member of the Main Council of Higher Education from 1953 to 1958.
- He advised the Minister of Higher Education from 1960 to 1962.
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Osman Achmatowicz
