F. L. Hahn RALPH E. O E S P E R University of Cincinnnti, Cincinnati, Ohio
Haher, Bredig, Feigl, Kohn, WILLSTATTER, Drucker, Paneth, Frenndlich, and many o t h e r s Who can measure the disservice to
the list is long. German chemistry when the senseless and cruel actions of the Nazis made it impossihle for these eminent men to continue working in their own country? Among those who found it impossihle to tolerate this inimical atmosphere, was the subject of this sketch. His life was outside the political turmoil, his interests were entirely scientific and academic. Nonetheless, this accomplished chemist, who could have contributed so much to the advancement of the national intellectual and economic welfare was the victim of ideological bigotry and hatred. F. L. Hahn was horn in 1888a t Oels, in Silesia. After the usual preparation, he matriculated a t the University of Berlin. His teachers included Emil Fischer, Gabriel, Nernst, Ruhens, Mannich. He was assistant to Wilhelm Traube. The Ph.D. was conferred in 1911. In 1913 Dr. Hahn began his long period of service a t the Universitv of Frankfurt z.M. He passed throuph the various academic mades and was made full professor in 1922. His chief interest had always been analytical chemistrv. He ~uhlishedconstantlv in this field and built up an international reputation. He served as Chairman of the Division of Analytical Chemistry in the Verein Deutscher Chemiker. In 1922 he published his "Leitfaden der Quantitativen Analyse," an excellent introductory text. With characteristic acumen Professor Hahn sensed the growing menace and, anticipating more direct action by the party that had taken over the government, resigned and emigrated to France in 1933. Here he found a kindly reception a t the Sorbonne and worked with Georges Urhain in the Lahoratorie de Chimie Gtdrale. He exchanged this temporary haven in 1935 for the chair of chemistry a t the Escuela Politecnica (School of Artillery and Engineering) a t Quito, Ecuador. In 1937 he became a citizen of Ecuador. After seven successful years of endeavor in this school he decided to devote his talents to another field of usefulness. In 1942 he moved to Guatemala, where he
F . L. HAHS ( 1888-
now occupies the important post as Chief of the , National Institute of Agricultural Chemistry. The permanent record of Dr. Hahn's activities is found in his more than 120 papers on analytical chemistry. In particular, he has dealt with the unraveling of disagreeing statements by various writers and the clarification of analytical data that did not accord with the axioms of general chemistry. . In microchemistry, he has studied the use of catalyzed actions for the detection and determination of various materials. The theory and practice of potentiometric analysis have been one of his favorite fields of investigation. Potentiometric measurement of the rate of catalyzed reactions has recently received his careful attention. He served on the editorial staff of Mikrochemie from 1929 to 1936. He also was one of the carefully selected collaborators in the important series of monographs "Die chemische Analyse" edited by Wilhelm Bottger. Germany's loss has definitely been America's gain.
