Hugo Schiff

Who was Hugo Schiff?

Hugo Schiff was a Italian naturalized Chemist, German by nationality. He discovered Schiff bases and other imines, and was responsible for research into aldehydes and had the Schiff test named after him. He also worked in the field of amino acids and the Biuret reagent.

Born in Frankfurt am Main, Schiff was a student of Friedrich Wöhler in Göttingen. He completed his dissertation also supervised by Wöhler in 1857. In the same year, due to political turmoil, Schiff left Germany in 1857 for Switzerland and the University of Bern. He was a supporter of socialism and reportedly corresponded with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. He also was a cofounder of the socialist Italian newspaper L'Avanti in 1894.

Schiff moved to Italy in 1863 holding positions in Pisa and then Florence. In 1870 he cofounded the Gazzetta Chimica Italiana together with Stanislao Cannizzaro. In 1877 he became Professor of General Chemistry in Turin and returned to Florence in 1879 as Professor of General Chemistry at what later would become the University of Florence where he founded the Chemical Institute of the University of Florence. Schiff died in Florence.