Victor Goldschmidt
Encyclopedia
Victor Moritz Goldschmidt (Zürich
, January 27, 1888 – March 20, 1947 in Oslo
)
was a mineralogist considered (together with Vladimir Vernadsky
) to be the founder of modern geochemistry
and crystal chemistry, developer of the Goldschmidt Classification
of elements.
Goldschmidt was born in Zürich
. His parents, Heinrich Jacob Goldschmidt
and Amelie Koehne named their son after a colleague of Heinrich, Victor Meyer. There was a history of great scientists and philosophers in both families. The Goldschmidt family came to Norway 1901 when Heinrich Goldschmidt took over a chair as Professor of Chemistry in Kristiania (Oslo).
Goldschmidt’s first important contribution was within the field of geology
and mineralogy
. His two first larger works were his doctor thesis Die Kontaktmetamorphose im Kristianiagebiet and Geologisch-petrographische Studien im Hochgebirge des südlichen Norwegens.
A series of publications under the title Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente (geochemical laws of distribution of the elements) is usually referred to as the start of geochemistry, the science that describes the distribution of the chemical elements in nature. The geochemistry has not only greatly inspired the field of mineralogy
and geology
but also theoretical chemistry and crystallography
. Goldschmidt’s work on atom and ion radii has been of enormous importance for crystallography. His work in this area has no doubt inspired the introduction of the Pauling covalent, ionic, and the Van der Waals radius
.
Goldschmidt took great interest in the technical application of his science; the utilization of olivine
for industrial refractory goes back to him. He was for many years the head of the Norwegian Committee for Raw Material (Statens Råstoffkomité).
of The Franklin Institute in 1903.
There has hardly ever been a person in the Norwegian university world that made such an early and rapid career as Goldschmidt. Without even taking the usual exams or degrees he got a post-doctoral fellowship from the university already at the age of 21 (1909). He obtained his Norwegian doctor’s degree when he was 23 years old (1911).
This kind of degree is usually obtained at an age of 30 to 40 years, and even 50 years and more is not unusual.
In 1912 Goldschmidt got the most distinguished Norwegian scientific award (the Fridtjof Nansen
belonning) for his work Die Kontaktmetamorphose im Kristianiagebiet. The same year he was made Docent (Associate Professor) of Mineralogy
and Petrography
at the University of Oslo
(known at that time as "Det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet").
In 1914 he applied for a professorship in Stockholm
. The selecting committee unanimously chose Goldschmidt for the chair. But before the Swedish king had made the final official approbation, the University of Kristiania was able to secure him a similar chair. This was quite an unusual procedure and speed for appointing a professor. Usually it would take at least two years to obtain a new chair at a Norwegian university and one or two years to have the professor appointed. In Goldschmidt’s case it seems that all tradition of slowness was abolished, a fact that the University of Oslo shall always be grateful for. In 1929 Goldschmidt was called to the chair of mineralogy
in Göttingen
, but he had to leave this position after the Nazis came to power, and he returned to Oslo in 1935. From 1930 to 1933, Reinhold Mannkopff
was an assistant to Goldschmidt at Göttingen.
as part of the persecution of Jews in Norway
during World War II. Initially held in Bredtveit concentration camp for two days and then in Berg concentration camp
, he was released on 5 November, only to be rearrested on 25 November. However, as he was on the pier and about to be deported
to Auschwitz, when he was held back in Norway on the condition that he lend his scientific expertise to help German authorities. Goldschmidt later fled to Sweden
and went on to England
(where some of the Koehne family lived, and still reside today).
His activities in England were described on the 60th anniversary of his death, by the Geological Society in "Goldschmidt in England".
The account states that he was flown to England on March 3 1943 by a British intelligence unit, and provided information about technical developments in Norway. After a short period of uncertainty about his future status, he was assigned to the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research (in Aberdeen) of the Agricultural Research Council. He was participated in discussions about the German use of raw materials and production of heavy water. He attended open meetings in Cambridge, Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and lectured at the British Coal Utilisation Research Association
on the presence of rare elements in coal ash.
His British professional associates and contacts included Leonard Hawkes, C E Tilley and W H Bragg, J D Bernal, Dr W G (later Sir William) Ogg
While at the Macaulay Institute, Goldschmidt was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, awarded the Wollaston Medal
, and an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Aberdeen.
He moved from Aberdeen to Rothamsted
, where he was popular and nicknamed ‘Goldie’. However, he wanted to go back to Oslo - not welcomed by all Norwegians, and returned there on 26 June 1946, but died soon after, at age 59.
A larger work, Geochemistry, was edited and published posthumously in England in 1954.
He was created a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1929.
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, January 27, 1888 – March 20, 1947 in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
)
was a mineralogist considered (together with Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was a Russian/Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology. His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine where he...
) to be the founder of modern geochemistry
Geochemistry
The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks, water, and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space, and...
and crystal chemistry, developer of the Goldschmidt Classification
Goldschmidt classification
The Goldschmidt classification, developed by Victor Goldschmidt, is a geochemical classification which groups the chemical elements according to their preferred host phases into lithophile , siderophile , chalcophile , and atmophile .Some elements have affinities to more than one phase...
of elements.
Early life & career
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. His parents, Heinrich Jacob Goldschmidt
Heinrich Jacob Goldschmidt
Heinrich Jacob Goldschmidt, aka Heinrich Jakob Goldschmidt was a Jewish Austrian chemist working most of his career in Norway. He studied chemistry at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague where he received his PhD in 1881...
and Amelie Koehne named their son after a colleague of Heinrich, Victor Meyer. There was a history of great scientists and philosophers in both families. The Goldschmidt family came to Norway 1901 when Heinrich Goldschmidt took over a chair as Professor of Chemistry in Kristiania (Oslo).
Goldschmidt’s first important contribution was within the field of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
. His two first larger works were his doctor thesis Die Kontaktmetamorphose im Kristianiagebiet and Geologisch-petrographische Studien im Hochgebirge des südlichen Norwegens.
New Theories
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
but also theoretical chemistry and crystallography
Crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
. Goldschmidt’s work on atom and ion radii has been of enormous importance for crystallography. His work in this area has no doubt inspired the introduction of the Pauling covalent, ionic, and the Van der Waals radius
Van der Waals radius
The van der Waals radius, r, of an atom is the radius of an imaginary hard sphere which can be used to model the atom for many purposes. It is named after Johannes Diderik van der Waals, winner of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics, as he was the first to recognise that atoms had a finite size and to...
.
Goldschmidt took great interest in the technical application of his science; the utilization of olivine
Olivine
The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....
for industrial refractory goes back to him. He was for many years the head of the Norwegian Committee for Raw Material (Statens Råstoffkomité).
Achievements
Victor Goldschmidt was awarded the Elliott Cresson MedalElliott Cresson Medal
The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848...
of The Franklin Institute in 1903.
There has hardly ever been a person in the Norwegian university world that made such an early and rapid career as Goldschmidt. Without even taking the usual exams or degrees he got a post-doctoral fellowship from the university already at the age of 21 (1909). He obtained his Norwegian doctor’s degree when he was 23 years old (1911).
This kind of degree is usually obtained at an age of 30 to 40 years, and even 50 years and more is not unusual.
In 1912 Goldschmidt got the most distinguished Norwegian scientific award (the Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
belonning) for his work Die Kontaktmetamorphose im Kristianiagebiet. The same year he was made Docent (Associate Professor) of Mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
and Petrography
Petrography
Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. Petrographic descriptions start with the field notes at the...
at the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
(known at that time as "Det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet").
In 1914 he applied for a professorship in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. The selecting committee unanimously chose Goldschmidt for the chair. But before the Swedish king had made the final official approbation, the University of Kristiania was able to secure him a similar chair. This was quite an unusual procedure and speed for appointing a professor. Usually it would take at least two years to obtain a new chair at a Norwegian university and one or two years to have the professor appointed. In Goldschmidt’s case it seems that all tradition of slowness was abolished, a fact that the University of Oslo shall always be grateful for. In 1929 Goldschmidt was called to the chair of mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, but he had to leave this position after the Nazis came to power, and he returned to Oslo in 1935. From 1930 to 1933, Reinhold Mannkopff
Reinhold Mannkopff
Reinhold Mannkopff was a German experimental physicist who specialized in spectroscopy. In 1939, he was a member of the first Uranium Club, the German nuclear energy project...
was an assistant to Goldschmidt at Göttingen.
Later life
On October 26, 1942, Goldschmidt was arrested at the orders of the German occuping powersOccupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
as part of the persecution of Jews in Norway
Holocaust in Norway
In the middle of the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. At least 775 of these were arrested, detained, and/or deported. 742 were murdered in the camps, 23 died as a result of extrajudicial execution, murder, and suicide during the war; bringing the total...
during World War II. Initially held in Bredtveit concentration camp for two days and then in Berg concentration camp
Berg concentration camp
Berg was a concentration camp near Tønsberg in Norway that served as an internment and transit center for political prisoners and Jews during the Nazi occupation of Norway.-Establishment:...
, he was released on 5 November, only to be rearrested on 25 November. However, as he was on the pier and about to be deported
Jewish deportees from Norway during World War II
During the Nazi occupation of Norway, German authorities deported about 768 individuals of Jewish background to concentration camps outside of Norway. 28 of these survived World War Two.-Deportation:The deportation schedule for the major transports was:...
to Auschwitz, when he was held back in Norway on the condition that he lend his scientific expertise to help German authorities. Goldschmidt later fled to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and went on to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(where some of the Koehne family lived, and still reside today).
His activities in England were described on the 60th anniversary of his death, by the Geological Society in "Goldschmidt in England".
The account states that he was flown to England on March 3 1943 by a British intelligence unit, and provided information about technical developments in Norway. After a short period of uncertainty about his future status, he was assigned to the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research (in Aberdeen) of the Agricultural Research Council. He was participated in discussions about the German use of raw materials and production of heavy water. He attended open meetings in Cambridge, Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and lectured at the British Coal Utilisation Research Association
British Coal Utilisation Research Association
British Coal Utilisation Research Association was founded in 1938, with the first chairman being John G. Bennett. It is a non-profit association of industrial companies, registered as a charity. According to its website "The aim of BCURA is to promote research and other activities concerned with...
on the presence of rare elements in coal ash.
His British professional associates and contacts included Leonard Hawkes, C E Tilley and W H Bragg, J D Bernal, Dr W G (later Sir William) Ogg
While at the Macaulay Institute, Goldschmidt was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, awarded the Wollaston Medal
Wollaston Medal
The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
, and an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Aberdeen.
He moved from Aberdeen to Rothamsted
Rothamsted Experimental Station
The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, is located at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England. It is now known as Rothamsted Research...
, where he was popular and nicknamed ‘Goldie’. However, he wanted to go back to Oslo - not welcomed by all Norwegians, and returned there on 26 June 1946, but died soon after, at age 59.
A larger work, Geochemistry, was edited and published posthumously in England in 1954.
He was created a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1929.
External links
- Goldschmidt Conference
- Victor Goldschmidt biography
- Weintraub, B. (2005) Victor Moritz Goldschmidt. Father of Modern Geochemistry and of Crystal Chemistry; Chemistry in Israel, Bull. Isr. Chem. Soc., Issue 20, December 2005. p 42-46.