Euler-Chelpin, << OY luhr KEHL puhn, >> Hans Karl August Simon von (1873-1964), a German-born Swedish biochemist, carried out research into enzymes (substances that speed up chemical reactions in living organisms without themselves being changed) and the alcoholic fermentation of sugar. Euler-Chelpin’s first work in biochemistry, in 1904, centered on the action of enzymes. During the early 1900’s, he researched the chemistry of plants and fungi. Euler-Chelpin started research into vitamins in 1924 and helped to explain the structure of several vitamins. During the late 1920’s, Euler-Chelpin returned to the chemistry of enzymes, including those called saccharase, urease, catalase, and zymase. He demonstrated that zymase was activated by vitamins A and B. In 1929, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry, sharing it with the British biochemist Arthur Harden (see Harden, Sir Arthur ).
Euler-Chelpin’s researches into enzyme chemistry were subsequently used in the study of heredity and of blood serum. In 1935, he studied the biochemistry of cancer and tumors. Between 1914 and 1958, Euler-Chelpin wrote a number of books and monographs, including Chemie der Enzyme (Chemistry of the Enzyme, 1925-1934).
Euler-Chelpin was born in Augsburg, Germany. He studied art at the Munich Academy of Painting until 1893. He then researched physics and chemistry at the universities of Berlin, Gottingen, Paris, and Stockholm. Euler-Chelpin’s son, Ulf Svante von Euler, was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine (see Euler, Ulf Svante von ).
