{{Short description|German chemist (1916–2004)}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Helmut Zahn |image = |image_size = |caption = Helmut Zahn |birth_date = 13 June 1916 |birth_place = Erlangen, Germany |death_date = {{death date and age|2004|11|14|1916|6|13|df=y}} |death_place = Aachen, Germany |field = textile chemistry |work_institution = RWTH Aachen<br>University of Heidelberg |alma_mater = University of Karlsruhe (TH) |known_for = first synthesis of Insulin }}
'''Helmut Zahn''' (born 13 June 1916 in Erlangen; died 14 November 2004 in Aachen) was a German chemist who is often credited as the first to synthesize Insulin in 1963. His results synthesizing insulin were achieved almost simultaneously with that of Panayotis Katsoyannis at the University of Pittsburgh.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lkEEAAAAMBAJ&q=insulin&pg=PA47 | title=First Man-made Protein in History | first=Fritz | last=Goro | pages=47–9 | magazine=Life | publisher=Time, Inc. | volume=56 | issue=19 | location=New York, NY | date=1964-05-08 | accessdate=2009-11-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ula72_FSwy8C&q=Panayotis+Katsoyannis&pg=PP11 | title=Insulin & Related Proteins – Structure to Function and Pharmacology | editor1-first=Matthias | editor1-last=Federwisch | editor2-first=Markus Leyck | editor2-last=Dieken | editor3-first=Pierre | editor3-last= De Meyts | publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers | pages=ix | isbn=1-4020-0655-1 | year=2002 | location=Dordrecht, Netherlands | accessdate=2009-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url= http://zfn.mpdl.mpg.de/data/Reihe_B/18/ZNB-1963-18b-1120_n.pdf | title=Synthese der Insulinketten und ihre Kombination zu insulinaktiven Präparaten | journal=Zeitschrift für Naturforschung B | editor1-first=J. | editor1-last=Meienhofer | editor2-first=E. | editor2-last=Schnabel | editor3-first=H. | editor3-last= Bremer | editor4-first=O. | editor4-last=Brinkhoff | editor5-first=R. | editor5-last=Zabel | editor6-first=W. | editor6-last=Sroka | editor7-first=H. | editor7-last=Klostermeyer | editor8-first=D. | editor8-last=Brandenburg | editor9-first=T. | editor9-last=Okuda | editor10-first=H. | editor10-last=Zahn | publisher=De Gruyter | issue=18b | pages=1120–1121 | issn=0932-0776 | year=1963 | doi = 10.1515/znb-1963-1223 | s2cid=97505793 | accessdate=2020-08-14}}</ref> His work was not honoured by the Nobel Prize because in 1958 Frederick Sanger was the first who discovered the chemical structure of Insulin.
Helmut Zahn studied chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and received his PhD in 1940. He habilitated at the University of Heidelberg and became director of the ''Deutsches Wollforschungsinstitut'' at the RWTH Aachen University in 1952.
==Decorations and awards== * Honorary doctorates from the universities of Barcelona, Belfast, Bradford, Düsseldorf, Leeds and Liège. * 1979: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXIV/AB/AB_10542/imfname_251156.pdf | title = Reply to a parliamentary question | language = German | page=548 |trans-title=| accessdate = 4 February 2013 }}</ref> * 1987: Wilhelm Exner Medal.<ref>Editor, ÖGV. (2015). Wilhelm Exner Medal. Austrian Trade Association. ÖGV. Austria.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahn, Helmut}} Category:1916 births Category:2004 deaths Category:People from Erlangen Category:20th-century German chemists Category:Karlsruhe Institute of Technology alumni Category:Heidelberg University alumni Category:Academic staff of RWTH Aachen University Category:Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art