Feodor Lynen life and biography

Feodor Lynen was born in Munich, Germany on 6 April 1911. He started his studies at the chemistry department of Munich University in 1930 and graduated in March 1937 under Heinrich Wieland with the work: "On the Toxic Substances in Amanita".

After several years of lecturing there, Lynen became professor at the Munich University in 1947. From 1954 onwards he was director of the Max-Planck Institute for Cellular Chemistry in Munich, which was merged into the newly founded Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in 1972.

Feodor Lynen investigated the metabolism of cholesterol and fatty-acids, isolated acetyl Coenzym A (CoA) from yeast, and made other important contributions to the understanding of the mechanism of biotin-dependent carboxylations.

Together with Konrad Bloch, he was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Medicine, "for their discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism".

His father was a professor of mechanical engineering at Munich Technical University, and Lynen's mentor was Nobel laureate Heinrich Wieland. He married Wieland's daughter, Eva, and their daughter Annemarie Lynen also became a respected chemist.

Read more