39 Facts About Gerhard Domagk

Gerhard Domagk is credited with the discovery of sulfonamidochrysoidine as an antibiotic for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Gerhard Domagk's duty was to test chemical compounds prepared at the IG Farben laboratory for potential drugs.

Gerhard Domagk was chosen to receive the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the antibacterial effects of prontosil," but the Nazi government prohibited him from receiving the award.

Gerhard Domagk was born in Lagow, Brandenburg, German Empire.

Gerhard Domagk's father Paul Richard Domagk was a school teacher.

Gerhard Domagk had an elder brother Erich, who died in childhood, and a younger sister, Charlotte.

Gerhard Domagk immediately entered the Bismarck School where he completed elementary education in 1910.

Gerhard Domagk entered the University of Kiel in 1914 to study medicine.

Gerhard Domagk joined the German Grenadier Regimen 7 as a volunteer along with 15 of his old school friends.

Gerhard Domagk was transferred to eastern front in Poland in December 1914, where he was shot on the head.

Gerhard Domagk was transported to Lichterfelde near Berlin where he recovered from the injury.

Gerhard Domagk supported Domagk's research on phagocytosis, an immune process discovered by Russian zoologist Elie Metchnikoff, so far as permitting excessive use of electricity, constant photographic lights, and free roaming of experimental mice, all of which angered the janitor.

Gerhard Domagk's thesis "Destroying infectious diseases through the reticuloendothelium and the development of amyloid", published in 1924 in Virchows Archiv fur pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und fur klinische Medizin was assessed as a worthy criterion for promotion to a full professor.

However, Gross was appointed to the University of Munster, and he invited Gerhard Domagk to join him as a lecturer at his proposed Department of Experimental Pathology.

At Munster, Gerhard Domagk felt that the new department was not flourishing as he anticipated and was underpaid.

Gerhard Domagk took a sabbatical leave for two years without pay, and decided to accept IG Farben's offer in 1929.

Gerhard Domagk was appointed director of the Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology, started working at the IG Farben laboratories at Wuppertal where he continued the studies of Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch, based on works by Paul Ehrlich, to use dyes, at that time a major product of the company, as antibiotics.

Gerhard Domagk remained in that position until his retirement in 1961.

Gerhard Domagk died from a heart attack at his villa in the Black Forest village of Burgberg near Konigsfeld, Schwarzwald.

In early 1931, Gerhard Domagk immediately tested the compound in mice that were having bacterial infection, and found that it was effective against Gram-positive bacteria.

Gerhard Domagk designated a code for the compound D 4145.

Gerhard Domagk induced infection at the belly of mice using clinical specimens of Streptococcus pyogenes.

In February 1935, Gerhard Domagk reported his experiments in the journal Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift as "Ein Beitrag zur Chemotherapie der bakteriellen Infektionen".

Gerhard Domagk fell on the stairs and stabbed her hand with the needle, and the broken needle was stuck in her wrist.

In 1932, Gerhard Domagk discovered the potential use of benzyldimethyldodecylammonium chloride as a powerful antimicrobial agent.

Gerhard Domagk explained how Zephirol applied to the skin, such as before wearing gloves during surgery, could prevent infection.

Gerhard Domagk showed that the compound could destroy cancer cells such as Yoshida sarcoma, Ehrlich carcinoma and Crocker sarcoma of mice and the Walker carcinoma of rats.

Gerhard Domagk was aware that precision drugs would be required to target specific cancers, as he remarked:.

In 1939, Gerhard Domagk was selected by the Nobel Foundation to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of Prontosil as an antibiotic, the first commercially available drug effective against bacterial infections.

On 27 October 1939, Gerhard Domagk received a telegram from the rector of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm that he was to receive the Nobel Prize.

Gerhard Domagk informed the rector of the University of Munster, Walter Mevius, who immediately submitted a petition to the German authorities to allow Domagk to receive the award.

Gerhard Domagk himself wrote to the NSDAP Office of the Fuhrer, Hitler's headquarters, that should he be allowed to receive the award, he would donate 100,000 Deutsche Marks for the war cause.

Gerhard Domagk was released when he was verified that he supported the German National Socialism and was politically loyal.

Gerhard Domagk was awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In 1941 Gerhard Domagk was awarded the Medaglia Paterno by the Kingdom of Italy and the Von-Klebelsberg-Medal and Prize by the Kingdom of Hungary.

Gerhard Domagk became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1942.

Gerhard Domagk received the El Soleil del Peru in 1952, the Pour le merite fur Wissenschaften und Kunste in 1952, the Spanish Civil de Sanidad in 1953, the del Lobertador from the Republic of Venezuela in 1957, the Medal of the Rising Sun 2nd Class from Japan in 1960, the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955.

Gerhard Domagk became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1959; his short biography was published by the Royal Society in 1964.

In Munster, a research foundation called Krebsforschung Professor Dr Gerhard Domagk was established in 1961, and Gerhard-Domagk-Institut fur Pathologie is created in the University of Munster.