Hermann Emil Fischer

Hermann Emil Fischer (9 October 1852 – 15 July 1919) was a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902.Fischer, Emil 1902. Syntheses in the purine and sugar group

Fischer was the founder of the chemistry of primary natural products: carbohydrates, purines and nucleosides, peptides and proteins. Amongst his many discoveries were the structure of carbohydrates, and he was the first to get synthetic peptides. He studied the active principles of tea, coffee and cocoa, namely, caffeine and theobromine.

Fischer also proposed the lock & key model of enzyme action.

 Family 
Fischer was married to Agnes Gerlach in Feb. 1888, but she died seven years after their marriage. They had three sons, named Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer (16. Dec. 1888 - 09. Mar. 1960) Walter (05. Jul. 1891 – 04. Nov. 1916) and Alfred (3. Oct. 1894 – 29. Mar. 1917). Alfred was killed in World War I, Walter committed suicide at the age of 25 as a result of compulsory military training. 

His eldest son Hermann Otto Laurenz Fischer, was Professor of Biochemistry in the University of California, Berkeley from 1948 until his death in 1960.Baker, A. Albert 1970–80. Fischer, Hermann Otto Laurenz. Dictionary of Scientific Biography 5. New York: Scribner's, pp. 5–7. 

 Death 
At the end, suffering from terminal cancer, he is thought to have committed suicide in 1919.Eduard, Farber (1970–80). Fischer, Emil Hermann. Dictionary of Scientific Biography 5. New York: Scribner's, pp. 1–5. 

Emil Fischer is burried at Friedhof Wannsee, Lindenstraße and since 1956 named as grave of honor for extraordinary services or achievements in his lifetimes.

 References 

Category:1852 births
Category:1919 deaths
Category:German academics
Category:German chemists
Category:German Nobel Prize winners
Category:Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners
Category:Suicides in Germany