Early Years

The son of an eminent dentist, Richard Adolf Zsigmondy was born in Austria in 1865. His father passed away when Richard was just fifteen. He was brought up by his mother, who encouraged him to pursue his own interests.  Richard’s interest in chemistry developed at an early age. He studied the textbook of Stoeckhardt's conducting many of the experiments in his homemade laboratory. He was also followed Roscoe-Schorlemmer's and Berzelius's textbooks on chemistry.

His early education in Vienna was under Professor E. Ludwig of the Medical Faculty. Under him he studied the basics of quantitative analysis. This was followed by studying in Technische Hochshule in Vienna and further studies at Munich. In 1893 Richard went on to teach in Graz as a lecturer in Technische Hochschule .

Richard’s interest in chemistry began as he studied the textbook of Stoeckhardt's and conducted experiments in his homemade laboratory.

Research

Richard’s early work in the field of the lustre of colours in glass and china lead him to the field of studying colloids. Colloids are chemical mixtures where one substance is dispersed evenly throughout another. His interest lead him to the glass works Schott und Genossen where he worked till 1900. Seven years later, the University of Göttingen appointed him as a Professor and Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry. The years following the First World War say Richard facing immense difficulties in getting the basic materials for any kind of scientific research. The Nobel Prize in 1925 allowed him to overcome some of these difficulties.