Otto Paul Hermann Diels (1876-1954)

Awarded the Prize “for his discovery development of the diene synthesis.”

German organic chemist. Diels was born on January 23, 1876 in Hamburg, Germany. He graduated from Berlin University in 1899. He was at once appointed Assistant at the Institute of Chemistry at Berlin University, becoming Lecturer in 1904. Promotion to Professor followed in 1906, he was appointed Head of Department in 1913. He became Professor at the University of Berlin in 1915 but, the following year, moved to the University of Kiel as Professor Director of the Institute of Chemistry. There he remained until his retirement in 1945. Diels died on March 7, 1954 at Kiel.