Ernst Späth

Ernst Späth

bust in the Arkadenhof of the University of Vienna
Born May 14, 1886(1886-05-14)
Moravský Beroun, Moravia
Died September 30, 1946(1946-09-30) (aged 60)
Zurich, Switzerland
Nationality Austro-Hungarian, Austrian
Fields chemist
Doctoral students Percy Lavon Julian
Known for synthesis Mescaline
Notable awards Lieben Prize

Ernst Späth (14 May 1886, in Moravský Beroun (German: Bärn), northern Moravia – 30 September 1946, in Zurich) was an Austrian chemist.

He was the first to synthesise Mescaline and was one of the first to synthesize cuscohygrine on a small scale with Hans Tuppy.

He lost everything in World War II, and died with no money. His former student Percy Lavon Julian returned to Vienna, paid for his funeral, and commissioned a bust of Späth, which is still displayed in the foyer of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna. A second cast of the bust was erected in 1961 in the Arkadenhof of the University of Vienna.