Leonidas Zervas

<p>Leonidas Zervas  was a <a href="/facts/Greeks/wXwd2xlb">Greek</a> <a href="/facts/Organic_chemistry/djxhxaNg">organic chemist</a> who made seminal contributions in <a href="/facts/Peptide_synthesis/Upd4aqKa">peptide chemical synthesis</a>. Together with his mentor <a href="/facts/Max_Bergmann/cNhoUNnf">Max Bergmann</a> they laid the foundations for the field in 1932 with their major discovery, the <a href="/facts/Benzyl_chloroformate/pAduphpY">Bergmann-Zervas carboxybenzoxy</a> oligopeptide synthesis which remained unsurpassed in utility for the next two decades. The <a href="/facts/Benzyl_chloroformate/pAduphpY">carboxybenzyl</a> <a href="/facts/Protecting_group/f92hVwHl">protecting group</a> he discovered is often abbreviated Z in his honour.
</p><p>Throughout his life Zervas also served in many important posts, including President of the <a href="/facts/Academy_of_Athens_(modern)/8ctQbVsr">Academy of Athens</a> or briefly <a href="/facts/Minister_for_Industry,_Energy_and_Technology_(Greece)/QW0ARVD7">Minister of Industry</a> of Greece. He received numerous awards and honours during his life and posthumously, such as Foreign Member of the <a href="/facts/Academy_of_Sciences_of_the_Soviet_Union/mIYjeYue">USSR Academy of Sciences</a> or the first Max Bergmann golden medal.
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Leonidas Zervas open-in-new

Leonidas Zervas