Fritz Feigl (15 May 1891 – 23 January 1971) was a Jewish Austrian-born chemist. He taught at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Biography

Feigl was born and studied in Vienna, but owing to his military service in the First World War he had to interrupt his studies. He received his Ph.D. for work with Wilhelm Schlenk in 1920. After his habilitation in 1928 he became a professor at the University of Vienna. He was forced to retire after the Nazi occupation of Austria in 1938. Feigl was able to get to Belgium and work there. After the occupation of Belgium he was imprisoned in a concentration camp, but was able to reach Portugal and from there Brazil in 1940. He worked at the University of Rio de Janeiro and became a Brazilian citizen in 1944.

Contributions

Fritz Feigl is the creator of "spot analysis" (spot test), a simple and efficient technique where analytic assays are executed in only one, or a few drops, of a chemical solution, preferably in a great piece of filter paper, without using any sophisticated instrumentation. A notable example he developed was a simple test to know if fishes eaten by Amazon population are contaminated by lead. Poor populations by the Amazon rivers were taught to easily use that technique to find out contaminated fishes and discharge them. On the occasion of Feigl's 70th birthday the Chemical Society of Midland sponsored a symposium in 1962, attended by 500 scientists from 24 countries, in which all plenary sessions were related on spot tests. A less known contribution is the development of "luminol", a substance used by forensic investigators to detect the presence of blood, even if the scene has been washed and cleaned.

Literary works

Decorations and awards

Fritz Feigl Prizes