Butenandt, Adolf Friedrich Johann

▪ 1996

      German biochemist (b. March 24, 1903, Bremerhaven-Lehe, Germany—d. Jan. 18, 1995, Munich, Germany), was the co-winner (with Leopold Ruzicka) of the 1939 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for pioneering work (1929-34) on sex hormones, primarily the isolation of estrone (a hormone that influences development of the female reproductive tract), progesterone (a female hormone that primarily regulates the condition of the inner lining of the uterus), and the male hormone androsterone. Butenandt also synthesized testosterone, which stimulates the development of masculine characteristics. He isolated estrone about the time that biochemist Edward Doisy accomplished the same feat in the U.S. Butenandt, who was also the first to explain the role of these hormones, found that they are closely related to steroids. Forbidden by Germany's Nazi government to receive the Nobel Prize when it was awarded him, he accepted the gold medal and diploma in 1949. His discoveries about hormones influenced the large-scale production of cortisone and laid the groundwork for the development of birth control pills. Butenandt, the first to crystallize an insect hormone, ecdysone, also was the first to isolate a pheromone, bombykol, the sex attractant of the female silkworm moth. After earning (1927) a Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen, he taught there and at the Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) Institute of Technology (1933-36). He was director (1936-45) of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biochemistry, Berlin-Dahlem (now Tübingen), and professor of physiological chemistry there from 1945 to 1956. When the institute (after World War II renamed the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry) moved to Munich in 1956, he retained those posts. Butenandt also served (1960-72) as president of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science.

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