Friedrich Reinitzer

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Friedrich Richard Reinitzer (February 25, 1857 in Prague - February 16, 1927 in Graz) was an Austrian botanist and chemist. In late 1880s, experimenting with cholesteryl benzoate, he discovered properties of liquid crystals (named so later by Otto Lehmann).

Reinitzer was born into a German Bohemian family in Prague. He studied chemistry at the German technical university in Prague; in 1883 he was habilitated there as a private docent. In 1885 he moved to the technical university in Graz. During 1909 - 1910 he served as the rector of the university.

In 1888 he discovered a strange behaviour of what would later be called liquid crystals. For the explanation of their behaviour he collaborated with the physicist Otto Lehmann from Aachen. The discovery received plenty of attention at the time but due to no practical use the interest dropped soon.

Selected works

From [1]:

• Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Cholesterins, in: Monatshefte für Chemie 3, 1883;
• Der Gerbstoffbegriff und seine Beziehung zur Pflanzenchemie, in: Lotos 39, 1891.