18 Facts About Leonidas Zervas

Leonidas Zervas received numerous awards and honours during his life and posthumously, such as Foreign Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences or the first Max Bergmann golden medal.

Leonidas Zervas was born in 1902 in the rural town of Megalopolis in Arcadia, southern Greece.

Leonidas Zervas was the first of 7 children of lawyer and parliamentarian Theodoros Zervas with Vasiliki Zerva.

Leonidas Zervas proceeded to work with Bergmann in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Leather Research in Dresden, of which Bergmann was the founder and director.

From 1926 to 1929 Leonidas Zervas was a research associate and eventually rose to head of the organic chemistry division and vice-director of the institute.

In New York, Leonidas Zervas spent 3 years as lecturer and researcher at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Leonidas Zervas was immediately appointed full Professor of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in recognition of his distinguished international work.

Leonidas Zervas stayed in this position until 1939, when he was invited to the Professorship of Organic Chemistry at the University of Athens and appointed director of the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry of the same institution.

Leonidas Zervas continued conducting research, despite the severe limitations he often faced from the lack of equipment and funding.

Concurrent to research, Leonidas Zervas taught organic chemistry, oversaw the laboratory and guided many generations of young chemists as doctoral advisor for the 29 years he held the post at the University of Athens.

The democratic ideals of Leonidas Zervas made him a target of the military junta established in 1967, which removed him from his position in the University of Athens in 1968 after almost three decades of dedicated research and teaching.

Leonidas Zervas had suffered from periodic issues with respiratory health throughout his adult life, but in his final years the situation deteriorated.

Leonidas Zervas showed perseverance and a pleasant attitude despite his health issues, continuing to attend meetings of the Academy of Athens until the very end of his life.

The enduring contributions of Leonidas Zervas were made together with Bergmann and involved the first successful synthesis of substantial length oligopeptides.

The discovery of the Bergmann-Leonidas Zervas synthesis has been characterised as "epoch-making" as it allowed the advent of controlled synthetic peptide chemistry, completing the work started in the early 20th century by Bergmann's mentor Emil Fischer.

Leonidas Zervas continued his research on peptide synthesis in New York and later in Greece.

Leonidas Zervas continued his efforts on the development of new methods within peptide chemistry, including the introduction of the o-nitrophenylsulfenyl amino protecting group and peptide synthesis using N-tritylamino acids.

The scientific work of Leonidas Zervas had a global resonance and his contribution was recognised by multiple awards throughout his life.