{{good article}} {{Short description|German chemist and lichenologist (1928–2011)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox scientist | name = | image = Siegfried Huneck.png | caption = Siegfried Huneck working in his laboratory | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|09|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Floh (Floh-Seligenthal) | death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|10|9|1928|09|9|df=y}} | death_place = | resting_place = | fields = [[Natural product]] chemistry; Lichenology | awards = [[Acharius Medal]] (1996) | workplaces = [[Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry]] | alma_mater = [[University of Jena]]; [[TU Dresden]] | author_abbrev_bot = Huneck<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ipni.org/a/20618-1 |title=Siegfried Huneck (1928–2011) |publisher=[[International Plant Names Index]] |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> }}
'''Siegfried Huneck''' (9 September 1928 – 9 October 2011) was a German chemist and [[lichenologist]]. Much of his scientific career was hampered by the political situation in the former [[German Democratic Republic]]. He rejected pursuing a career in academia, and instead ended up working at the [[Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry]], a public research institute, from 1969 until his retirement in 1993. Despite his relative isolation and restricted freedoms in East Germany, Huneck had numerous professional contacts both in Germany and abroad, and was a highly published scholar. Many of his more than 400 scientific publications dealt with the chemistry of [[lichen product]]s. He was awarded the [[Acharius Medal]] for lifetime achievements in lichenology in 1996.
==Life and career== Siegfried Huneck was born on 9 September 1928 in {{ill|Floh (Floh-Seligenthal)|de}}, a small settlement in the [[Thuringian Forest]] region ([[Thuringia]], Germany). He attended [[primary school]] there, and then [[grammar school]] for boys in [[Schmalkalden]], which he completed in 1947 after a two-year delay caused by [[World War II]]. After the war ended, Huneck's region became part of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR), where the actions of citizens were heavily controlled by the state. Starting in 1950, Huneck began employment as a laboratory worker in the RFT broadcasting station in [[Erfurt]] (doing metal analysis), and then a year later as a scientific-chemical assistant in the [[Volkseigener Betrieb]] ("people-owned factory") in [[Jenapharm]].<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
Huneck applied to study chemistry at the [[University of Jena]] in 1951, but was refused entry because the GDR's [[socialist planned economy]] had decided that the country did not need chemists at the time and so no chemists were admitted. Instead, Huneck studied mathematics, waiting for a later opportunity to enrol in his program of choice. That opportunity came the following year, when 200 students were admitted. In 1957 Huneck had met all the requirements for a "Diplom-Chemiker" degree. His thesis was titled {{lang|de|Über die Oleanolsäure und einige ihrer Derivate}} ("On [[oleanolic acid]] and some of its derivates").<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/> Immediately afterwards he started working at the Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in [[Jena]] as a scientific assistant, while simultaneously continuing his university studies on [[triterpene]]s.<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
In 1959, Siegfried Huneck received a [[PhD]] (''[[magna cum laude]]'') from the University of Jena defending a thesis on the chemistry of amino-derivatives of [[polycyclic compound|pentacyclic]] triterpenes ({{lang|de|Über Aminosäuren von pentazyklischen Triterpenen}}). His interest in the chemistry of [[natural product]]s was not matched by this university, so he transferred to the Institute of Plant Chemistry at the [[TU Dresden|University of Dresden]]. He completed his [[habilitation]] here in 1964.<ref name="Kärnefelt 2012"/> His theme of habilitation research was {{lang|de|Über photo- und stereochemische Untersuchungen an pentacyclischen Triterpenen}} ("On photo- and stereochemical investigations of pentacyclic triterpenes"). He received his degree after giving a lecture titled {{lang|de|Chemotaxonomie, ein Grenzgebiet zwischen Chemie und Botanik}} ("Chemotaxonomy, a borderland between chemistry and botany").<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
Because of the post-war politics of [[East Germany]], [[lectureship]]s and [[professorship]]s were only given to members of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]] (also known as the East German Communist Party), a political party that he despised. He realised that he would not be able to be successful academically in that environment. Instead, he was able to find work at the Institute for the Biochemistry of Plants (later the [[Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry]]) in [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]], a privately funded [[research institute]]. Here he was able to direct his efforts to the area that interested him the most: the study of natural compounds in [[lichen]]s, [[liverwort]]s, and higher plants. He remained here until his retirement.<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/><ref name="Kärnefelt 2012"/> During his time here, he published about 250 papers, many of them as part of a series with the title "Mitteilungen uber Flechteninhaltsstoffe" ("Communications on lichen constituents").<ref name="Scholz 2012"/>
Huneck was able to successfully [[Chemical isolate|isolate]], [[chemical structure|elucidate]], and [[chemical synthesis|synthesize]] many compounds previously unknown to science. His extensive network of friends and colleagues in the western world compensated for the lack of modern research equipment available for use in his laboratory. Although he was not allowed to travel outside of socialist countries, Huneck was able to participate in research expeditions to [[Tajikistan]], [[Mongolia]], and North Korea, where he collected plants and lichens for [[chemical analysis]].<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
After the [[Revolutions of 1989]] and the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], Huneck was free to visit his friends and colleagues, and he attended several scientific conferences and international meetings, as well as botanical excursions.<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/> He visited colleagues in Austria, Australia, Japan, Sweden, and the Netherlands.<ref name="Aptroot 1994"/> In September 1993, he was forced into [[mandatory retirement]], and had to give up his laboratory and office space. Despite this, he still maintained contact with his colleagues and collaborators, and continued his scientific work, with several dozen publications after 1993. His final publication, a book titled {{lang|de|10.000 Kilometer unterwegs im Herzen Asiens. Expeditionsberichte aus der Mongolei}}, describes his expeditions in the [[Far East]].<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
After his retirement, Huneck's lichen and moss collections (numbering about 7500 specimens) and isolated lichen products (about 1500) were transferred from Halle to the [[Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum|Botanical Garden and Herbarium]] in Berlin.<ref name="Sipman 1994"/> A smaller collection (about 950 specimens) of mostly liverworts went to the Herbarium Haussknecht in Jena.<ref name="Scholz 2012"/> His collection of lichen substances was later used to help create an [[open access]] database of high-resolution [[tandem mass spectrometry]] spectra for lichen metabolites. This initiative will help future researchers in identifying new metabolites, and will be useful for the chemical profiling of newly reported species.<ref name="Olivier-Jimenez et al. 2019"/>
==Personal== Huneck married Ruth Göhler in 1960, five years after meeting her at a dance. They had two sons together, Reinhard (born 1964) and Rolf (1967). After his retirement, in 1995, Huneck and his family moved to [[Langenbogen]] where they enjoyed a more rural lifestyle. In 2011, Huneck became seriously ill. After several weeks in hospital, he died on 9 September at the age of 83. His wife predeceased him by two years; according to his biographers, after this, "he lost interest in life".<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
==Recognition== A [[Festschrift]] in the ''[[Bibliotheca Lichenologica]]'' series was dedicated to Huneck in 1993 on the occasion of his 65th birthday and his retirement, titled ''Phytochemistry and Chemotaxonomy of Lichenized Ascomycetes – A Festschrift in honour of Siefgfried Huneck''.<ref name="Festschrift 1993"/> The volume is a compilation of 28 scientific papers written by 63 of his friends and colleagues from 14 countries.<ref name="Coppins 1994"/> Huneck was an honorary member of the [[Lichenological Society of Japan]].<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/>
Huneck was awarded an [[Acharius Medal]] for lifetime achievements in lichenology in 1996. In his introduction of Huneck, colleague [[John Alan Elix]] considers Huneck a major influence on his decision to pursue similar fields of research in [[chemotaxonomy]], writing that he "was particularly inspired by [Huneck]'s review of the then modern spectroscopic methods and how they could be utilised in the structural elucidation of these compounds".<ref name="Elix 1996"/>
===Eponymy=== The lichen genus ''[[Huneckia]]'' (family [[Teloschistaceae]]) was named in honour of Huneck.<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2014"/> Three species have been named after Huneck:<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/> ''[[Opegrapha huneckii]]'' {{small|Follmann & Klement (1970)}};<ref name="Follmann & Klement 1969"/> ''[[Geastrum huneckii]]'' {{small|Dörfelt (1981)}};<ref name="Dörfelt 1981"/> and ''[[Pertusaria huneckiana]]'' {{small|Feige & Lumbsch (1993)}}.<ref name="Lumbsch et al. 1993"/>
==Selected publications== A complete listing of Huneck's 412 authored and co-authored scientific publications is given in Stordeur and colleagues' 2011 obituary.<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011"/> Of these, about 250 publications concern lichenology. Some representative works include: *{{cite journal |last1=Huneck |first1=S. |last2=Follmann |first2=G. |year=1970 |title=Mitteilungen über Flechteninhaltsstoffe LXXVI. Zur Phytochemie und Chemotaxonomie der Buelliaceae |trans-title=Communications on lichen constituents LXXVI. On the phytochemistry and chemotaxonomy of the Buelliaceae |journal=Biochemie und Physiologie der Pflanzen |volume=161 |pages=191–214 |doi=10.1016/S0015-3796(17)31038-7 |language=de}} *{{cite journal |last1=Huneck |first1=S. |year=1975 |title=Über die Inhaltsstoffe weiterer Lebermoose. XVII. Mitteilung über Moosinhaltsstoffe |trans-title=About the substances of other liverworts. XVIII. Communication on moss substances |journal=Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory |volume=39 |pages=215–234 |language=de}} *{{cite book |last1=Huneck |first1=S. |year=1983 |chapter=Chemistry and biochemistry of Bryophytes |editor-last1=Schuster |editor-first1=Rudolf M. |title=New Manual of Bryology. Vol. I |publisher=The Hattori Botanical Laboratory |location=Nichinan, Japan |pages=1–116 |oclc=10792214}} *{{cite book |last1=Huneck |first1=Siegfried |last2=Yoshimura |first2=Isao |year=1996 |title=Identification of Lichen Substances |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-85245-9}} *{{cite journal |last1=Huneck |first1=S. |year=1991 |title=New results in the chemistry of lichens |journal=Symbiosis |volume=11 |pages=225–248 |url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/77145/VOLUME%2011-NUMBERS%202-3-1991-PAGE%20225.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}} *{{cite journal |last1=Huneck |first1=S. |year=2006 |title=Progress in the chemistry of lichen substances 2000–2005 |journal=Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory |volume=100 |pages=671–694 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jhbl/100/0/100_671/_pdf/-char/en}} *{{cite book |last1=Huneck |first1=Siegfried |year=2010 |title=10000 Kilometer unterwegs im Herzen Asiens. Expeditionsbericht aus der Mongolei (unter Mitwirkung von Hans-Dieter Knapp) |trans-title=10000 kilometers on the road in the heart of Asia. Expedition report from Mongolia (in cooperation with Hans-Dieter Knapp) |publisher=Weissdorn-Verlag |location=Jena |language=de |isbn=978-3-936055-61-0}}
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name="Aptroot 1994">{{cite journal |last1=Aptroot |first1=André |year=1994 |title=A "Festkolloquium" for Dr. Huneck |journal=International Lichenological Newsletter |volume=27 |issue=1 |page=8 |url=http://www.lichenology.org/Publications/ILN/ILN_27_1.pdf |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=19 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719185546/http://www.lichenology.org/Publications/ILN/ILN_27_1.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Coppins 1994">{{cite journal |last=Coppins |first=B.J. |title=Book Reviews: ''Phytochemistry and Chemotaxonomy of Lichenized Ascomycetes—A Festschrift in honour of Siegfried Huneck''. By G. B. Feige & H. T. Lumbsch. [Bibliotheca Lichenologica, No. 53]. Berlin & Stuttgart: J. Cramer. 1993. Pp. 288, 48 figures, 51 tables. ISBN 3 443 58032 7. Price DM 140. |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=26 |issue=3 |year=1994 |doi=10.1006/lich.1994.1024 | pages=313–314}}</ref>
<ref name="Dörfelt 1981">{{cite journal |last1=Dörfelt |first1=H. |year=1981 |title=Mykogeographisch interessante Gasteromyceten-Funde |trans-title=Mycogeographically interesting gasteromycete finds |journal=Boletus |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=15–20 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Elix 1996">{{cite journal |last1=Elix |first1=J.A. |year=1996 |title=Lectures on occasion of the Acharius Medal presentation: Siegfried HUNECK |journal=International Lichenological Newsletter |volume=29 |pages=56–57 |url=http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_Huneck.html |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=11 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311001232/http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_Huneck.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Festschrift 1993">{{cite book |editor-last1=Feige |editor-first1=Guido B. |editor-last2=Lumbsch |editor-first2=H. Thorsten |year=1993 |title=Phytochemistry and chemotaxonomy of lichenized ascomycetes – a Festschrift in honour of Siegfried Huneck |series=Bibliotheca Lichenologica |volume=53 |location=Berlin, Stuttgart |publisher=J. Cramer |isbn=978-3-443-58032-2}}</ref>
<ref name="Follmann & Klement 1969">{{cite journal |last1=Follmann |first1=G. |last2=Klement |first2=O. |year=1969 |title=Eine neue felsbewohnende Opegraphaceae von den Kanarischen Inseln |trans-title=A new rock-dwelling Opegraphaceae from the Canary Islands |journal=Nova Hedwigia |volume=18 |pages=819–826 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Kärnefelt 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Kärnefelt |first1=Ingvar |last2=Scholz |first2=Peter |last3=Seaward |first3=Mark R.D. |last4=Thell |first4=Arne |title=Lichenology in Germany: past, present and future |journal=Schlechtendalia |volume=23 |year=2012 |pages=43–44 |url=http://www.lichenology.org/PDFs/Kaernefelt%26al2012_LichenologyInGermany.pdf |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121173609/http://www.lichenology.org/PDFs/Kaernefelt%26al2012_LichenologyInGermany.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2014">{{cite journal |last1=Kondratyuk |first1=S.Y. |last2=Jeong |first2=M.-H. |last3=Yu |first3=N.-N. |last4=Kärnefelt |first4=I. |last5=Thell |first5=A. |last6=Elix |first6=J.A. |last7=Kim |first7=J. |last8=Kondratiuk |first8=A.S. |last9=Hur |first9=J.-S. |year=2014 |title=A revised taxonomy for the subfamily Caloplacoideae (Teloschistaceae, Ascomycota) based on molecular phylogeny |journal=Acta Botanica Hungarica |volume=56 |issue=1–2 |pages=93–123 |doi=10.1556/abot.56.2014.1-2.10}}</ref>
<ref name="Lumbsch et al. 1993">{{cite journal |last1=Lumbsch |first1=H.T. |last2=Feige |first2=G.B. |last3=Scmitz |first3=K.E. |year=1993 |title=''Pertusaria huneckiana'', a new mediterranean lichen, with notes on some saxicolous ''Pertusaria'' species containing chloroxanthones |journal=Bibliotheca Lichenologica |volume=53 |pages=173–178}}</ref>
<ref name="Olivier-Jimenez et al. 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Olivier-Jimenez |first1=Damien |last2=Chollet-Krugler |first2=Marylène |last3=Rondeau |first3=David |last4=Beniddir |first4=Mehdi A. |last5=Ferron |first5=Solenn |last6=Delhaye |first6=Thomas |last7=Allard |first7=Pierre-Marie |last8=Wolfender |first8=Jean-Luc |last9=Sipman |first9=Harrie J.M. |last10=Lücking | first10=Robert |last11=Boustie |first11=Joël |last12=Le Pogam |first12=Pierre |title=A database of high-resolution MS/MS spectra for lichen metabolites |journal=Scientific Data |volume=6 |issue=1 |year=2019 |pmid=31780665 |pmc=6882832 |doi=10.1038/s41597-019-0305-1 |page=e294|bibcode=2019NatSD...6..294O }}</ref>
<ref name="Scholz 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Scholz |first1=Peter |year=2012 |title=Siegfried Huneck. 9 September 198 – 9 October 2011 |journal=International Lichenological Newsletter |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=15–16}}</ref>
<ref name="Sipman 1994">{{cite journal |last1=Sipman |first1=Harrie |year=1994 |title=Huneck's herbarium to B |journal=International Lichenological Newsletter |volume=27 |issue=1 |page=10 |url=http://www.lichenology.org/Publications/ILN/ILN_27_1.pdf |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=19 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719185546/http://www.lichenology.org/Publications/ILN/ILN_27_1.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Stordeur et al. 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Stordeur |first1=R. |last2=Sipman |first2=H.J.M. |last3=Elix |first3=J.A. |year=2011 |title=In memory of Siegfried Huneck 9 September 1928 – 9 October 2011 |journal=Herzogia |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=185–205 |doi=10.13158/heia.24.2.2011.185}}</ref>
}}
{{Authority control}} {{Recipients of the Acharius Medal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huneck, Siegfried}} [[Category:1928 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century German chemists]] [[Category:German chemists]] [[Category:German lichenologists]] [[Category:University of Jena alumni]] [[Category:TU Dresden alumni]] [[Category:Acharius Medal recipients]] [[Category:Scientists from Thuringia]]