Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (1 April 1865 - 23 September 1929) was a
Hungarian born
[1] Austrian-
German chemist of and
Nobel laureate chemistry known for his research in
colloids. The crater
Zsigmondy on the Moon is named in his honour. He was an ethnic Hungarian.
Zsigmondy was born in Vienna, Austrian Empire to Irma von Szakmary and Adolf Zsigmondy, Sr., who had been a scientist and had invented surgical instruments in the field of dentistry. He was raised by his mother after his father's early death in 188, and received a comprehensive education. He enjoyed hobbies such as climbing and mountaineering with his siblings. His brother Karl Zsigmondy became a notable mathematician in Vienna. In high school he developed an interest in natural science, especially in chemistry and physics, and experimented in his home laboratory.
His academic career began at the University of Vienna Medical Faculty, but soon moved on to the Technical University of Vienna and later to the University of Munich in order to study chemistry. In Munich his teacher was Wilhelm von Miller (1848-1899), where he started his scientific career by concluding research on indene and receiving his Ph.D. in 1889.[2]
Zsigmondy left organic chemistry and joined the physics group of August Kundt at the University of Berlin and finished his habilitation at the University of Graz in 1893. Because of his knowledge about glass and its colouring in 1897 the Schott Glass factory offered him a job which he accepted. He invented the Jenaer Milchglas and conducted some research on the red Ruby glass.
