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Erika Cremer was born on May 20, 1900 in Munich, Germany, eventually moving with her family to Berlin. Perhaps because her family of intellectuals included scientists and university professors, Cremer decided to study chemistry at the University of Berlin. Here she became part of an extraordinary institution where Nobel laureates such as Fritz Haber, Walther H. Nernst, Max von Laue, Max Planck, and Albert Einstein presented lectures. In 1927, Cremer earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry magna cum laude under Max Bodenstein in the area of chemical kinetics.
During the next 12 years, Cremer gained exceptional research experience, working with eminent chemists such as Karl Bonhoeffer, George de Hevesy, Michael Polanyi, and Otto Hahn. Although well-qualified, Cremer could not expect to become a university professor because women were not employed as such at German universities. However, a shortage of men engaged in teaching during World War II enabled her to secure a position in 1940 at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. It was here that she first developed the theoretical basis of gas chromatography, as well as the first prototype of the gas chromatograph. (Gas chromatography is used to separate organic compounds in gaseous mixtures. Liquids and solids that can be readily changed into the gaseous state can also be separated by this method. Gasoline is an example of a liquid that can be separated into its components using gas chromatography.)
Despite the war, Professor Cremer continued her research and finally published her results in 1951. In that same year, she was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Innsbruck. In 1971, Cremer became director of the university's Physical Chemistry Institute.
Erika Cremer died on September 21, 1996. She received many awards in her lifetime and is the subject of books, articles, and a documentary film.
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