Hans Neurath
The Bial-Neurath Family
In 2001, one year before his death, Hans wrote about the future of his field: “Whereas for a long time, the ultimate goal was to analyze to the most minute detail the structure and function of single proteins, it now appears that in the postgenomic era this concept will have to be broadened to include the multitude of interactions between proteins and ligands that occur in vivo. Genomic analysis of many divers species including human are already yielding a wealth of new information that in the course of time will revolutionize and move the study of proteins once again toward the center stage of biology and medicine. This wave of new knowledge will be based on new and integrated methodologies and concepts that will attract protein scientists, chemists, physicists, geneticists, and other practitioners from every major discipline in the bio-medical science area. If the second millennium was dominated by the advent of molecular biology, the beginning of the current third millennium may well be marked by proteomics and gene technology. These developments may take decades to reach fruition but are already on the scientific horizon.”
On March 7, 2000, the prestigious international journal of biochemistry and biophysics Biochimica et biophysica acta published a special issue in honor of Hans’ 90th birthday. The editors Ralph A. Bradshaw and James Travis began their laudation as follows: “October 29, 1999 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of one of the premiere scientists of the 20th century, Professor Hans Neurath. His professional career spans more than 60 years and it has been distinguished by a myriad of scholarly achievements in research, teaching and administration.” They ended their celebration with: “Perhaps because it is difficult to comprehend the enormous magnitude of change that has occurred since Hans began his work, it is hard to extrapolate where this will lead in the next 50 years. For those of us who still carry forth this banner, it is perhaps gratifying to appreciate that there is still much more to be learned before all is revealed. However, we need not wait to know that he will be one of the giants on whose shoulders we and our successors have and will stand as we strive for those goals.” Hans celebrated his 90th birthday among colleagues and many friends who came to Seattle from all over the world.
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| Hans at the party to celebrate his 90th birthday. | |
Until two months before his death, Hans had regularly attended faculty meetings and made daily visits to his office. Hans Neurath died on April 12, 2002, at the age of 92. Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir, a colleague in the field and former president of Israel, wrote: “I mourn the passing of Hans Neurath, a good friend, a distinguished scientist and a wonderful human being. I shall cherish his friendship so long as I live, and as a protein physical chemist I shall always remember his contributions as a physical chemist who dealt with proteins and who succeeded in establishing a most impressive department at the University of Washington in Seattle. I sincerely hope that many of the young scientists will be able to learn a great deal from Hans’ life, his dedication to basic science, his outstanding attempts to elucidate the secrets of biomacromolecules in general and proteins in particular.”