Justus von Liebig

Liebig was immensely influential, not least in founding modern organic chemistry, and the research laboratory. He worked as an assistant in Gay-Lussac’s laboratory; Humboldt introduced them. Among his research students, Hofmann worked with him on aniline, Strecker on amino acids, Pettenkofer on meat juices (Liebig’s company eventually patented Oxo), and Schmidt on fertilisers. Wöhler was a regular collaborator, Regnault and Voit were also among his students, while Bunsen went to Giessen to meet him. Kekulé worked with him on benzene; they gave evidence convicting a servant of murder, showing that however much alcohol his employer had drunk, she couldn’t have spontaneously combusted.