Tadeusz Reichstein was born in Wloclawek, Poland on July 20, 1897 as the oldest child of Gustava and Isidor Reichstein. With his parents, Tadeusz spent his first seven years in the city of Kiev, later moving to Berlin and finally Zurich.

Reichstein finished his education at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, the state technical college in Zurich. He acquired a doctorate in organic chemistry in 1922 and immediately went to work in the E.T.H. laboratories. Reichstein focused his early work on discovering the chemicals in coffee that made it smell the way it did. He performed this work for the next seven years.

After completing his work of the aromatic chemicals in coffee, Reichstein took on more of a teaching role in his life. In 1929, he became a lecturer at his alma mater, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. He taught organic chemistry to students of E.T.H. for two years. In 1931, Reichstein was promoted to assistant to L. Ruzicka, a professor at the same school.

With his new job, Reichstein put all of his effort and attention into his research. Through his work, Tadeusz was able to produce a method for synthesizing vitamin C. This advancement was important to the field of medicine because people were then able to take a pill to gain a sufficient amount of the crucial vitamin.

Throughout the 1930s, Reichstein enjoyed a steady elevation in his positions, continually getting promoted at his school. In 1934, he was named Titular Professor. He gained the title of Association Professor in 1937 and a year later he was named Professor in Pharmaceutical Chemistry as well as Director of the Pharmaceutical Institute at the University of Basel.

Reichstein began his most famous work as a scientist in 1934. During this year, he began his study of the adrenal cortex and the hormones it produces. To even his surprise, the adrenal cortex produces numerous different chemicals important to the human body. These hormones, such as cortisone, aldosterone, and desoxycorticosterone, are essential for the body to regulate such functions as the liquid balance in the body, responses to stress, and the metabolism of certain proteins and carbohydrates, as well as numerous others.

Tadeusz Reichstein’s contributions to the medical field were felt most from his research on the adrenal cortex. Due to this work, he was able to create methods for synthetically producing cortisone, which has become a key medication for treating rheumatoid arthritis, and desoxycorticosterone, a drug that helps patients with Addison’s disease. Aside from these two key medications, Reichstein also was able to synthesize Aldosterone, a chemical used to help people balance the water and salt levels in their bodies. His work was complemented by other scientists, who were able to add to the efficiency of Reichstein’s methods.

For his efforts, Tadeusz Reichstein was presented the Nobel Prize in Physiology, along with his collaborators in the study of the adrenal cortex, in 1950. In the 1960s, he retired from his work with academic institutions, but continued to work on his own research projects in his own private laboratories. Tadeusz Reichstein passed away on August 1, 1996 at the age of 99. His contributions to the medical field will be forever felt by those who use his medications.

Read more about Tadeusz Reichstein at: www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1950/reichstein-bio.html