Hermann Pardun
From OFLWiki
Hermann Pardun (14 April 1908 - 05 August 2009) was a German Fat Chemist. On the 5th of August 2009 Dr. Hermann Pardun passed away in Kleve, Germany, at the blessed age of 101. He was the last surviving founding member of the German Society for Fat Science (DGF) and was associated with sympathy to our society for decades.
Born on 14th of April 1908, he started studying Chemistry with the subsidiary subjects Physics, Mathematics, Geology and Botany in 1926 and received his Ph.D. with “magna cum laude” in 1932. During these economically difficult times he found a modestly remunerated post at the then called “Institute for Pharmacy and Chemical Technology” at the University of Münster which has then headed by Prof. H.P. Kaufmann. The beginning of his professional career was to be setting the direction of his future working life. Here he had his first contacts to Fat Chemistry which would engage him throughout his career.
He started a career in the fat industry, cresting with the position of Director of Chemistry at the Unilever Plant in Kleve, Germany. The results of his extensive research were incorporated in manifold publications and lecture presentations, throughout in the DGF journal and DGF congresses. In addition a comprehensive article on “Analysis of Fats and Fat products” was published in J. Schormüller’s “Handbook of Food Chemistry” as well as a monograph “Analysis of Nutritional Fats” (1976) and finally a summary of his rich experience in the Chemistry and Technology of Phospholipids in the monograph “The Plant Lecithins (1988)”.
In the working groups and Divisions of DGF Dr. Pardun was known for his imaginative and energetic work and with his profound knowledge he was a well liked and listened to colleague. From 1973-1975 he was Chair of the Division “Analysis and Standard Methods” and a sought after member in the corresponding international bodies such as ISO and IUPAC
Pardun was thanked for his outstanding achievements with the order of merit first class by the Federal Republic of Germany, and DGF bestowed upon him the societie’s uppermost award the “Wilhelm Normann Medal” in 1982.
On occasion of his 100th birthday in 2008 the German Society for Fat Science endowed the “Hermann-Pardun-Award” to honour the outstanding achievements and the lifework of this deserved researcher. The award is granted for especially noteworthy graduate thesis on the area of Fat Science and/or Technology.
[edit] References
Author: Manfred Arens, Münster
Translation: Andrea Wiesner, Frankfurt
