Chemical Landmark 2015 – Designation of the Former Institute of Chemistry of the University of Fribourg

Prof. Dr.Katharina Fromm (SCNAT, Uni FR) moderated the program and welcomed the guests. Dr. Jürg Pfister, secretary general of SCNAT, briefly introduced SCNAT and the «Chemical Landmark» program, Prof. Dr. Andreas Zumbühl presented the Fribourg Chemical Society, and Beat Vonlanthen (Conseil d’État FR) proudly conveyed the congratulations of the cantonal government of Fribourg. In his laudation, Prof. em. Dr. Alexander von Zelewsky provided an insight into the history of the institutes. The university was founded upon the initiative of the conseil d’état Georges Python in 1886. Shortly after, in 1896 the faculty of science was opened. Chemistry was installed in a former waggon factory, which had been used as an arsenal for the artillery. Already the first institute of chemistry was from the beginning committed to bilingualism. The first appointed chemistry professor was A. Bistrzycki from Germany. The first associate professor René Thomas-Mamert was called from France. The academic career ladder was different at that time: Thomas-Mamert started in Fribourg in 1896, finished his doctorate in 1897 and was subsequently promoted to full professor. Bistrzycki already had a group of eleven students whom he brought with him to the new and unknown University of Fribourg. Among them was Chaim Weizmann, eponym of the «Fribourg Chaim Weizmann Lecture», who later became the first president of Israel, co-founded the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and founded the research institute that was later called Weizmann-Institute.