Wilhelm Ostwald

Wilhelm Friedrich Ostwald was a chemist, inventor, and university teacher born in 1853 in Riga. He was a member of the Baltic German ethnic group and held citizenship in the Livonia Governorate, Germany, and the Russian Empire. Ostwald was educated at Riga State Gymnasium No.1 and the Imperial University of Dorpat, where he earned a doctorate. His doctoral advisors were Carl Schmidt and Arthur von Oettingen. He worked as a university teacher at Leipzig University, the Imperial University of Dorpat, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Riga Technical University.

Ostwald’s field of work was physical chemistry. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and is recognized in the Nobel Laureates collection, the Nobel Chemistry collection, and the American Academy Arts Sciences collection. He wrote in German and Ido, and also spoke Esperanto. His notable works include *Elemente und Verbindungen*, *Outlines of general chemistry*, *Monism as the goal of civilization*, *Grosse Männer*, *Vergleichende Farbtabellen*, *Ridgway - Ostwald*, and *Ostwald - Ridgway*. He died in 1932 in Großbothen, Grimma, and is buried in the Great Cemetery.