Tadeusz Reichstein, named after Tadeusz Kościuszko, was a Polish-Swiss chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate in 1950. He was born to the Jewish family of Isidor Reichstein and Gastava Brockmann, later assimilated with Polish culture, and obtained Polish citizenship.
In the inter-war period, he visited his family in Poland several times. All of his Polish relatives died in death camps during World War II. Reichstein understood Polish well to the end of his life but he had difficulties with speaking. He supported the development of Poles studying and working at Swiss universities, funding scholarships for them.
Tadeusz Reichstein was awarded for his work on hormones and the isolation of cortisone. This substance has an anti-inflammatory effect and is considered a performance-enhancing drug, a steroid hormone. It is used for potassium cyanide or hydrogen cyanide poisoning. He was also working on obtaining corticosterone. One cannot fail to mention that this was an epoch-making discovery, enabling steroids to be widely used in the following years to treat a great many diseases, including many nephropathies. In fact, it is difficult to imagine modern medicine without the possibility of using these compounds.
Check the lecture about the most important hormones of the adrenal cortex below:
We encourage you to check the rest of the articles regarding the Polish Nobel laureates series:
THE POLISH NOBEL LAUREATES SERIES: MARIA SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE
THE POLISH NOBEL LAUREATES SERIES: HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ
THE POLISH NOBEL LAUREATES SERIES: ALBERT A. MICHELSON