Staudinger, Magda

A Few Personal Remarks About Early Times with Hermann Staudinger, Magda Staudinger and Hermann F. Mark... 

Magda Staudinger-Woit did not live to see this letter, as it was published shortly before her death in April 1997 at the age of 94. Whereas her claim appealed to an historical justification, the committee gave priority to the present-day conventional usage in the scientific community. After all, the Commission provided a definition that a polymer was a substance composed of macromolecules, a pragmatic solution which, however, blanks the history of strife surrounding the two words. [51]... 

Fig. 3 Meeting with Magda Staudinger in Freibuig after a ski-hnt seminar (1992) of guests and coworkers of the Mainz research group...

This was a successful self-determined time for Magda Staudinger. Her years at Unesco were - in my opinion - a seccmd important, substantial period of Magda Staudinger s life. She was successful, highly respected and unconstrained by her old patriotic fights for her husband s German macromolecules . 

Even during the visit of Hermann and Magda Staudinger to Japan in April 1957 the characterization and analytical proof of macromolecules played a role when His Majesty the Emperor of Japan asked Professor Staudinger, are macromolecules merely ideas to help explain many phenomena, or is there strict evidence for then-existence, and if so, by which methods The question and Staudinger s answer are cited in his Arbeitserinnerungen [2, p. 104] It is just this experimental demtHistratiOTi of the existence of macromolecules which forms the essential part of my work in the field of macromolecular science . 

In the 1930s polymer science exploded in many laboratories around the world, the age of plastics had arrived. Hermann Staudinger looked upon it with joy and pride. However, he personally could not give up the fight for his macromolecules, supported rigorously with Baltic patriotism by his second wife Magda (nee... 

It turned out to be a difficult task to realize the initial idea because of two major obstacles. First, one needed permission from the university authorities for this action and, second, more difficult, one needed consent from the widow of Hermann Staudinger, Dr. Magda Staudinger (1902-1997), who was a fierce and powerful custodian of the scientific legacy of her late husband. 

In summary, Magda Staudinger believed that she had many good reasons to maintain unfriendly relations with the Faculty of Chemistry of Freiburg University. In particular, she disliked Elfriede Husemann, despite - or maybe, because - of the fact that Elfriede Husemann had been a close cooperator and academic associate of her late husband. She had been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor by the University in 1947. Given the difficulties of the time, she had an impressive record in scientific achievements when the Faculty decided to offer her the directorship of... 

Magda Staudinger played a distinctive role in her husband s scientific activities both as coworker and ardent supporter of his ideas and visions. After his death in 1963, she became a distinguished and influential member of the Editorial Board of Makromolekulare Chemie, the journal that was founded by H.S. in 1946 as the first worldwide journal specializing in macromolecular chemistry. 

The name Hermaim-Staudinger-Haus for the Instimte building in Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Street 31, was eventually formally presented and announced in March 1981 in the presence of Magda Staudinger. As planned, this event was also linked to the commemoration of the 100th birthday of H.S. 

Magda Staudinger was obviously not totally pleased by this perspective and she made contact with yet another person whom she had learned was ready to write a history of polymer science Yasu Furukawa. His work entitled Inventing polymer science Staudinger, Carothers and the emergence of macromolecules came out in 1998 [2]. 

Staudinger had to wait until 10 December for the official presentation of the Nobel Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The trip to Stockholm was to be unforgettable. His wife Magda writes ... 

In a separate program, Frau Dr. Magda Staudinger, who was also a well-known biologist, was asked to give a speech at the Intemational House of Japan in Tokyo on April 6 (Fig. 3). She talked about the activities of women in German universities. 

SoOTi after this visit, Professor Staudinger was elected to honorary membership in SPSJ. The lUPAC Macromolecular Symposium was held in Tokyo and Kyoto in 1966. On behalf of her husband, who had died a year earher, Frau Dr. Magda Staudinger deUvered the address to the audience at the opening ceremony of the meeting. 

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