Ernst Hermann Riesenfeld

Ernst Hermann Riesenfeld (25 October 1877 – 19 May 1957) was a German/Swedish chemist.

Biography 
He was born in Brieg (then Germany, now Brzeg, Poland), as son of the physician (Sanitätsrat) Dr. Emanuel Riesenfeld, and attended school in this town. Following his family’s move to Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) he attended the humanistic König-Wilhelms Gymnasium, which he left in 1897 (Max Born attended the same Gymnasium until 1901).

He studied general natural sciences at the Universities of Heidelberg and Göttingen (beginning in 1899). At the latter University he mainly dealt with physical chemistry and submitted his PhD thesis “Ueber elektrolytische Erscheinungen und elektromotorische Kräfte an der Grenzfläche zweier Lösungsmittel”. This work was supervised by Professor Walther Nernst. This pioneering work is remembered as the starting point of what is now known as the electrochemistry at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) which now constitutes a research field of its own. The determination of the free energies of ion transfer between aqueous and organic solutions is of great importance for biology, physiology, pharmacy, and for liquid-liquid extraction in chemistry. Riesenfeld, together with Nernst, also developed a highly sensitive torsion displacement balance which is now known as ‘Nernst balance’.

In 1913 Riesenfeld was appointed as Professor in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), and in 1920 he became Professor at the University of Berlin. Because of his Jewish origin, he lost his position during the Nazi regime in 1934 and moved to Sweden, where he worked until 1952 at the Nobel Institute of Physical Chemistry. During his time at the Nobel Institute, Riesenfeld worked on the thermal formation of ozone at high temperatures.

Riesenfeld was also the author of a well-known textbook and laboratory manual on inorganic chemistry which have been published in many editions and translations.

Riesenfeld died in Stockholm on 19 May 1957.

Family 
In 1911 Riesenfeld married Johanna (Hanna) Johansson (1878–1964), a sister of Maria Johansson (1871–1957), the second wife of the chemist Svante Arrhenius. He had three children: Ernst Harald Riesenfeld (1913–2008), who became Professor of Theology (New Testament) at the University of Uppsala, Hans Erik Riesenfeld (1914–2001), a paediatrician, and Anna Karin Riesenfeld (1920–1992), a high school teacher of languages.

Bibliography

Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1901) "On electrolytic phenomena and electromotive forces at the interface between two solvents" (Ger., Ueber elektrolytische Erscheinungen und elektromotorische Kräfte an der Grenzfläche zweier Lösungsmittel). Dieterich’sche Universitäts-Buchdruckerei, Göttingen
E. H. Riesenfeld (1901) "Über elektrolytische Erscheinungen und elektromotorische Kräfte an der Grenzfläche zweier Lösungsmittel". Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie 7:645-648

Walther Nernst, Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1901) "Über elektrolytische Erscheinungen an der Grenzfläche zweier Lösungsmittel". Nachrichten der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, No. 1, 54-61

Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1902) "Über den Molekularzustand von Jodkalium in Phenol". Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie 41:346-352
Walther Nernst, Ernst H. Riesenfield (1902) "Ueber elektrolytische Erscheinungen an der Grenzfläche zweier Lösungsmittel". Annalen der Physik 313:600-608
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1902) "Bestimmung der Ueberführungszahl einiger Salze in Phenol". Annalen der Physik 313: 609-615
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1902) "Concentrationsketten mit nichtmischbaren Lösungsmitteln". Annalen der Physik 313: 616-624
Walther Nernst, Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1903) "Ueber quantitative Gewichtsanalyse mit sehr kleinen Substanzmengen". Chemische Berichte 36:2086-2093
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1931) "Svante Arrhenius". Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1924) "Walter Nernst zu seinem sechzigsten Geburtstag". Angewandte Chemie 37:437-439
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1934) "Lehrbuch der Anorganischen Chemie". S. Hirzel Verlag, Leipzig; 2nd edition F. Deuticke Verlag, Wien 1939; 3rd edition Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1943, 4th edition S. Hirzel Verlag Leipzig 1946, 5th edition Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1950; Spanish edition (1942, 1950): Tratado de química inorgánica. Manuel Marín, Editor, Barcelona.
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1910) "Anorganisch-chemisches Praktikum". Qualitative Analyse und anorganische Präparate (17th edition Rascher Verlag, Zürich 1956); Spanish editions (1928, 1943, 1950): Prácticas de química inorgánica. Análisis cualitativo y preparaciones inorgánicas. Editorial Labor, Barcelona; French editions (1940): Manuel Pratique De Chimie Minerale (Analyse Qualitative et Preparations). Dunod, Paris
Ernst H. Riesenfeld, M. Beja (1923) "Über die thermische Bildung von Ozon". Meddelanden från Kungliga Vetenskapsakademiens Nobelinstitut, 6, 1-20
Ernst H. Riesenfeld and M. Beja (1924) "Über die thermische Bildung von Ozon". Zeitschrift für Anorganische und Allgemeine Chemie, 133, 245-262
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1939) "Die thermische Dissoziation des Sauerstoffes". Zeitschrift für Anorganische und Allgemeine Chemie, 242, 47-48
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1925) "Über die Ozonbildung in Glühenden Capillaren". Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie, 31, 435-440
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1924) "Über die Bildung von Ozon und Wasserstoffsuperoxyd in der Knallgasflamme". Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, 110, 801-807
Ernst H. Riesenfeld (1929) "Die Bildung und Zersetzung von Ozon". Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie, 42, 729-734

Notes

External links 
 Brief biography and extensive bibliography of Ernst Hermann Riesenfeld on the University of Hamburg website (in German)

Category:1877 births
Category:1957 deaths
Category:People from Brzeg
Category:People from the Province of Silesia
Category:German chemists
Category:Swedish chemists