George de Hevesy: Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Early Life:
George Charles de Hevesy was born on August 1, 1885, in Budapest, Hungary, into an aristocratic family. His full name was György Hevesy de Heves. He was the second son of Louis de Hevesy, a civil engineer, and his mother, Eugenie, was of Belgian descent. Growing up in Budapest, George received a well-rounded education and developed an early interest in science.
Education and Early Career:
In 1903, George de Hevesy began his studies at the Technical University of Budapest, where he pursued chemical engineering. After completing his undergraduate degree, he moved to Berlin to study chemistry under the guidance of renowned chemists, including Emil Fischer and Richard Abegg.
During this period, he met and became friends with future Nobel laureates Niels Bohr and Max von Laue. His association with these influential scientists would play a significant role in his later career.
Radioactive Tracer Techniques:
George de Hevesy’s groundbreaking work in chemistry began with his research on radioactive tracers. In collaboration with Friedrich Paneth, he developed methods to trace the paths of radioactive isotopes in chemical reactions. This research laid the foundation for the field of radiochemistry and became one of the cornerstones of his career.
World War I and Denmark:
During World War I, George de Hevesy served in the Austro-Hungarian Army. Following the war, he found himself in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he resumed his scientific career. It was in Copenhagen that he began his long association with Niels Bohr, the prominent Danish physicist.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry:
In 1923, de Hevesy was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes. This recognition highlighted the profound impact of his research on the understanding of chemical reactions and marked the beginning of a distinguished scientific career.
Chemical Element Displacement:
One of de Hevesy’s most famous contributions came during the Nazi occupation of Denmark in World War II. Concerned about the safety of gold and other valuable metals held at the Niels Bohr Institute, de Hevesy dissolved the gold in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid) to form a solution. He stored the solution in plain sight on a shelf to avoid suspicion.
After the war, de Hevesy retrieved the gold from the solution, and it was returned to the institute. This ingenious method of hiding and recovering the gold demonstrated the practical applications of his work in radiochemistry.
Later Career and Legacy:
After World War II, George de Hevesy continued his scientific work and held academic positions at institutions in Sweden, the United States, and Switzerland. He worked on various projects, including studying the metabolism of radioactive isotopes in living organisms.
Throughout his career, de Hevesy published numerous papers and received several awards and honors for his contributions to the field of radiochemistry. He remained active in research until his later years.
George de Hevesy passed away on July 5, 1966, in Freiburg, Germany. His pioneering work laid the groundwork for the use of isotopes as tracers in diverse scientific fields, including biology, medicine, and environmental science. De Hevesy’s legacy endures as a key figure in the development of radiochemistry and its wide-ranging applications in scientific research and industry.
