Friedrich Fichter RALPH'E. OESPER Uniwrsity of Cineimnoti, Cineinnoti, Ohio
H E Swiss are an intelligent, industrious, self'T rehant, . effective people. These same admirable qualities are displayed in their universities and poly-
professor and head of the inorganic division. He occupied this position until his retirement in 1939. Almost 300 papers have come from his laboratory,
technic schools, where chemical education and orizinal research are kept at a notably high level. I t is the professors, of course, who arc directly responsiblr for this record. The Swiss schools have always had competent occupants of the chairs of chemistry, and the higher authorities have seen to i t that nominations to these posts have gone only to those of whose success there was practically no doubt. The subject of this sketch is an excellent illustration of the results of this system of picking a promising man and then giving him .adequatesupport.
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PROFE'S~OR FIGHTER DEMONSTRATING THE BURN IN^ oa A L U M ~ N V POWDER M
and a long succession of young chemists have worked under his guidance. Quite a fey of his papers, including reviews and summaries, -have appeared in English, especially in the Transactions of the Electrochemical Society. His favorite fields of investigation have been oxidations by means of gaseous fluorine, the preparation of molten beryllium, and, especially, various aspects of organic electrochemistry. His books include "Anleitung zum Studium der chemischen Reaktionen" (4th edition, 1928). "iibungen in quantitativer chemischer Andyse (2nd edition, 1938), "Das Verhaltnis der anorganischen zur organischen Chemie" (1933), and "Organische Elektrochemie" (1942). I n 1928 he was guest professor a t the University of Friedrich Fichter, the son of a manufacturer of silk ribbons, was born on July 6, 1869. From 1888 to 1890 Birmingham. He senred as president of the Union of he attended the University of Basle, and then trans- Swiss Chemical Societies and as vice-president of the ferred to the University of Strasbourg for more spe- International Union of Chemistry. When the Heluetica cialized training. Here he came under the influence Chimica Acta was begun in 1918, he was elected its of Rudolf Fittig, who made the young Swiss his assist- editor-in-chief. He still retains this responsible posiant in 1893. The doctorate was awarded in 1894. tion. In this period the circulation has grown from 500 Fichter's real life-work began in 1895, when he returned to about 3000. An open letter, commending his servto Basle as assistant to J. Piccard. In 1896 he habili- ices and signed by the most prominent Swiss chemists, tated as Privatdozent, was promoted to an extraordi- was published in 1943 when the 25th anniversary of the nary professorship in 1903, and in 1912 was made full founding of this excellent journal was celehrated.
