Fritz Albert Lipmann
Biochemist who discovered coenzyme A and won the Nobel Prize.
Fritz Albert Lipmann was a German-American biochemist who co-discovered coenzyme A in 1945. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953 for this discovery and its significance for intermediary metabolism, sharing the award with Hans Adolf Krebs.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 12 June 1899
- Birthplace
- Königsberg, German Empire (present-day Kaliningrad, Russia)
- Died
- 24 July 1986
- Place of death
- Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
- Other names
- Fritz Lippmann
- Field
- Biochemistry
- Known for
- Co-discoverer in 1945 of coenzyme A
- Spouse
- Elfreda M. Hall Lipmann (m. 1931)
Facts from the source article.
Early life and education
Fritz Albert Lipmann, born to a Jewish family in Königsberg, Germany, first earned his medical degree in 1924 from Berlin’s Friedrich Wilhelm University, having studied at Königsberg, Berlin, and Munich. He then pursued chemistry under Hans Meerwein back at Königsberg, before completing his doctoral thesis with Otto Meyerhof at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Dahlem, Berlin, and later relocating with Meyerhof to Heidelberg.
Career
After moving to the United States in 1939, Fritz Albert Lipmann took a position as a Research Associate in biochemistry at Cornell University Medical College in New York, where he stayed until 1941. He then shifted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, initially as a Research Associate in surgery before leading his own team in the hospital’s Biochemical Research Laboratory. From 1949 to 1957, he served as a professor of biological chemistry at Harvard Medical School, and from 1957 onward, he taught and carried out research at Rockefeller University in New York City. In 1953, Lipmann was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for identifying co-enzyme A and its role in intermediary metabolism; Hans Adolf Krebs received the other half. He later explored a variant of co-enzyme A, now called Pantethine. The National Medal of Science came to him in 1966. Lipmann was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He created the squiggle symbol (~) to mark high-energy phosphate bonds in molecules like ATP, and once noted that in biosynthesis, progress tends to bring simplification.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Fritz Albert Lipmann born?
Fritz Albert Lipmann was born on 12 June 1899 in Königsberg, German Empire (present-day Kaliningrad, Russia).
When did Fritz Albert Lipmann die?
Fritz Albert Lipmann died on 24 July 1986 in Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
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