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Moses Wolf Goldberg
BornJune 30, 1905 (1905-06-30)
Rūjiena, Governorate of Livonia (present-day Latvia)
DiedFebruary 17, 1964(1964-02-17) (aged 58)
Montclair, New Jersey
Known forBiotin synthesis and development of other pharmaceuticals
AwardsWerner Medal and Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society (1940)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
Doctoral advisorLeopold Ružička

Moses Wolf Goldberg (June 30, 1905 – February 17, 1964) was an Estonian chemist who, along with Leo Henryk Sternbach, developed a process for the synthesis of biotin (a B vitamin) in 1949.

Biography[edit]

Moses Wolf Goldberg was born in Rūjiena, Latvia in 1905 and moved to Võru, Estonia as a young child. Goldberg attended the German Oberrealschule in Tartu and studied science and mathematics at the University of Tartu from 1923 to 1924.[2] He then enrolled at ETH Zurich, where he earned a Diploma in Chemical Engineering. He did his doctoral work under Nobel Prize winner Leopold Ružička and was a colleague of other notable chemists, including Tadeus Reichstein,[3] Leo Henryk Sternbach, and George Rosenkranz. In 1931, he submitted a doctoral thesis entitled Versuche zur Synthese Ephedrin-ähnlicher Körper (Assay for Synthesis of an Ephedrine-Like Body)[2] and earned the Habilitation degree in 1935 despite increasing xenophobia at the institution.[4] In 1940, Goldberg was awarded the Werner Medal and Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society.[1]

Due to the increasingly unwelcoming climate for Jews in Europe, in 1942 Goldberg emigrated to the United States along with many other Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazis.[5] He took a position with Hoffmann-La Roche at the company's Nutley, New Jersey facility. With Leo Sternbach, Goldberg patented a process for synthesizing biotin in 1949.[6] He obtained numerous other patents while working for Hoffmann-La Roche, identifying and refining antibiotics and other drugs.

Goldberg died at the age of 58 in February, 1964.[7]

Family[edit]

Moses Wolf Goldberg was the son of Meyer Itzik Goldberg and Kayla Hanna Gibberman. His parents were born in Bauska, Latvia, and they married in Riga in 1904. He had a younger brother, Leo (b. 1907),[8] who also studied at the University of Tartu,[9] and a sister Miriam (b. 1909).[10] His father Meyer Itzik Goldberg was deported to Siberia, and died or was killed in the SevUralLag camp in December 1941.[11] His mother Kayla Hanna Goldberg and sister-in-law Erna Furman Goldberg (Leo's wife) were deported to Nedostupny,[12] in the Tomsk region of Siberia, and probably perished there. His sister Miriam and her husband Leo Klionski fled with other Jewish refugees to Tashkent, Uzbekistan;[13][14] Leo Klionski survived the war and returned to Estonia, but it is unclear what happened to Miriam. Leo Goldberg was not deported in 1941, and his fate is unknown.[12]

Moses Wolf Goldberg married Regina Hauser in Switzerland around 1928, and they emigrated together in January 1942 along with Regina's mother Ida Hauser.[15] They had no children.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Rupe H (1944). "Die Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft in den Jahren 1901-1941 (The Swiss Chemical Society in the Years 1901-1941)". Helvetica Chimica Acta. Retrieved 2010-05-24.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b Goldberg, Wolf (1931). Versuche zur Synthese Ephedrin ähnlicher-Körper (Doctoral Thesis). ETH Zurich. doi:10.3929/ethz-a-000092360. hdl:20.500.11850/133593. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  3. ^ "Leopold Ruzicka und das Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft in der Chemie (Leopold Ruzicka and the relationship between science and industry in chemistry)". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  4. ^ "Die Helvetisierung der Dozentenschaft (The 'Swissification' of the Faculty)". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  5. ^ Prelog V, Jeger O (November 1980). "Leopold Ruzicka". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 26: 411–501. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1980.0013. JSTOR 769790.
  6. ^ Goldberg MW and Sternbach LH. "Synthesis of Biotin". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  7. ^ "Dr. Moses W. Goldberg (obituary)". The New York Times. February 19, 1964. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  8. ^ "Estonian Jews Database, Reference #2741 (Leo Goldberg)". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  9. ^ "Jewish Students of the Tartu University 1918-1944". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  10. ^ "Estonian Jews Database, Reference #2744 (Miriam Goldberg)". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  11. ^ Salo V. "The list of Jews deported from Estonia in June 1941" (PDF).
  12. ^ a b "KÜÜDITAMINE 1941 (Deported in 1941)". Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  13. ^ "Tashkent Refugee Card, Miriam Klionskaia". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  14. ^ "Tashkent Refugee Card, Leo Klionski". Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  15. ^ "25 here from Europe on Atlantic Clipper". The New York Times. January 12, 1942. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Wolf_Goldberg

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