Friedrich Adolf PanethFRS (31 August 1887 – 17 September 1958) was anAustrian-bornBritish chemist. Fleeing theNazis, he escaped to Britain. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1939. After the war, Paneth returned to Germany to become director of theMax Planck Institute for Chemistry in 1953. He was considered the greatest authority of his time on volatilehydrides; he also made important contributions to the study of thestratosphere.^[1] He was an enthusiastic amateur photographer (using theautochrome method) all his life.^[2][3][4]

Paneth's conception of ″chemical element″ functions as the official definition adopted by theIUPAC.^[5][6][7]

Friedrich (Fritz) Paneth was born as son of the physiologistJoseph Paneth. He and his three brothers were brought up in Protestant faith although both parents were of Jewish descent. He was educated at theSchottengymnasium a renowned school in Vienna. He studied chemistry at theUniversity of Vienna and after working withAdolf von Baeyer at theUniversity of Munich he received his PhD withZdenko Hans Skraup at the organic chemistry department of the University of Vienna in 1910.

He abandoned organic chemistry and in 1912 joined theInstitute for Radium Research, Viennaradiochemistry group ofStefan Meyer. In 1913 he visitedFrederick Soddy at theUniversity of Glasgow andErnest Rutherford at theUniversity of Manchester. In this year he married Else Hartmann; they had a son and daughter. After hishabilitation in 1913 he became assistant ofOtto Hönigschmid at theUniversity of Prague. From 1919 till 1933 he was professor in various German universities:(University of Hamburg 1919,Berlin University 1922,Königsberg University 1929.

In 1927, Paneth andKurt Peters published his results on the transformation ofhydrogen tohelium, now known ascold fusion.^[8] They later retracted the results, saying they had measured background helium from the air.^[9][10]

DuringHitler'sMachtergreifung in 1933 he was on a lecture tour in England and did not return to Germany. In 1939 he became professor at theUniversity of Durham where he stayed until his retirement in 1953.

A call to become director at theMax Planck Institute for Chemistry inMainz caused him to return to Germany. He founded the Department ofCosmochemistry there and initiated research on meteorites. He worked in the Institute until his death in 1958.

• Assistant inInstitute for Radium Research attached toAustrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, 1912
• Assistant professor,University of Hamburg, 1919
• Head of inorganic department of chemical institute,Berlin University, 1922
• Head of chemical institute,Königsberg University, 1929
• Reader in atomic chemistry,Imperial College London, 1938; among his assistants wasEugen Glueckauf
• Professor of chemistry,University of Durham, 1939
• Head of chemistry division of joint British-Canadian atomic energy team inMontreal, 1943-5
• Returned to Durham and established Londonderry Laboratory for radio-chemistry, heading it until retirement, 1953

Paneth received theLieben Prize (1916), theLiversidge Award (1936), and theLiebig Medal (1957). He was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society in 1947.

The mineralpanethite is named after him, as is the lunar craterPaneth.

• Fajans–Paneth–Hahn Law

• Biography