Moses Wolf Goldberg

Moses Wolf Goldberg was born in Rūjiena, Latvia in 1905 and moved to Võru, Estonia as a young child. Goldberg attended the German Oberrealschule in Tartu and studied science and mathematics at the University of Tartu from 1923 to 1924. [1] He then enrolled at ETH Zurich, where he earned a Diploma in Chemical Engineering. He did his doctoral work under Nobel Prize winner Leopold Ružička and was a colleague of other notable chemists, including Tadeus Reichstein, [2] Leo Henryk Sternbach, and George Rosenkranz. In 1931, he submitted a doctoral thesis entitled Versuche zur Synthese Ephedrin-ähnlicher Körper (Assay for Synthesis of an Ephedrine-Like Body) and earned the Habilitation degree in 1935 despite increasing xenophobia at the institution. In 1940, Goldberg was awarded the Werner Medal and Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society. [4]

Due to the increasingly unwelcoming climate for Jews in Europe, in 1942 Goldberg emigrated to the United States along with many other Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazis. [5] He took a position with Hoffmann-La Roche at the company's Nutley, New Jersey facility. With Leo Sternbach, Goldberg patented a process for synthesizing biotin in 1949. [6] He obtained numerous other patents while working for Hoffmann-La Roche, identifying and refining antibiotics and other drugs.

Goldberg died at the age of 58 in February, 1964, in Montclair, New Jersey. [7]

http://www.ra.ee/apps/andmed/index.php/matrikkel/view?id=5155&_xr=e...

Foto - http://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=45843&_xr=5c1f539...

References:

1. Goldberg, MW (1931). "Versuche zur Synthese Ephedrin ähnlicher-Körper". Retrieved 2017-12-02.
2. Speich, D (2005). "Leopold Ruzicka und das Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft in der Chemie (Leopold Ruzicka and the relationship between science and industry in chemistry)". Retrieved 2017-12-02.
3. Speich, D (2005). "Die Helvetisierung der Dozentenschaft (The 'Swissification' of the Faculty)". Retrieved 2017-12-02.
4. Rupe H (1944). "Die Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft in den Jahren 1901-1941 (The Swiss Chemical Society in the Years 1901-1941)". Helvetica Chimica Acta. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
5. Prelog V and Jeger O (November 1980). "Leopold Ruzicka". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 26: 411–501. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1980.0013. JSTOR 769790.
6. Goldberg MW and Sternbach LH (1947). "Synthesis of Biotin". Retrieved 2017-12-02.
7. "Dr. Moses W. Goldberg (obituary)". New York Times. February 19, 1964. Retrieved 2010-05-22.

National Archives A-File: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7240749