Richard Adolf Zsigmondy

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy
Born	(1865-04-01)1 April 1865 Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Died	23 September 1929(1929-09-23) (aged 64) Göttingen, Germany
Nationality	Austria
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	University of Vienna Technical University of Vienna University of Munich University of Graz University of Göttingen
Alma mater	Technical University of Vienna University of Munich
Doctoral advisor	Wilhelm von Miller
Influenced	August Kundt
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1925)

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-Hungarian chemist. He was known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1925. The crater Zsigmondy on the Moon is named in his honour.

Zsigmondy was born in Vienna, Austrian Empire, to Hungarian parents Irma Szakmáry, a poet born in Martonvásár, and Adolf Zsigmondy Sr., a scientist from Bratislava who invented several surgical instruments for use in dentistry. Zsigmondy family members were Lutherans. They originated from Johannes (hung. János) Sigmondi (1686–1746, Bártfa, Kingdom of Hungary) and included teachers, priests and Hungarian freedom-fighters. Richard was raised by his mother after his father's early death in 1880, and received a comprehensive education. He enjoyed hobbies such as climbing and mountaineering with his siblings. His elder brothers, Otto (a dentist) and Emil (a physician), were well-known mountain climbers; his younger brother, Karl Zsigmondy, became a notable mathematician in Vienna. In high school Richard developed an interest in natural science, especially in chemistry and physics, and experimented in his home laboratory.

He began his academic career at the University of Vienna Medical Faculty, but soon moved to the Technical University of Vienna, and later to the University of Munich, to study chemistry under Wilhelm von Miller (1848–1899). In Munich he conducted research on indene and received his PhD in 1889.

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