The New International Encyclopædia/Fischer, Emil

FISCHER, fĭsh′ẽr, Emil (1852—). A German chemist, born at Euskirchen. He studied at Strassburg, and in 1879 was made professor extraordinary at the University of Munich. Three years later he was appointed full professor of chemistry at Erlangen, and in 1885 was invited to take a similar position at Würzburg. When, on the death of the celebrated A. W. Hofmann, the chair of organic chemistry at the University of Berlin became vacant, Fischer was appointed to fill the vacancy (1892). His most important achievement was the synthetic production of the simple sugars and the complete demonstration of their chemical constitution. Although he did not succeed in synthesizing ordinary cane-sugar and the more complex carbohydrates (such as cellulose and starch), his researches have thrown much light on their chemical constitution and have thus paved the way for future success. His Anleitung zur Darstellung organischer Präparate (5th ed. 1896) is well known to every student of organic chemistry. In 1902 he received the Nobel prize for distinguished research in chemistry.