TU Wien mourns the loss of Prof. Sauter, who sadly passed away at a ripe old age and yet unexpectedly.

As recently as February 2020, we were able to celebrate three milestone birthdays of the successive Chair of Organic Chemistry as part of the 200-Year Heterocyclic Chemistry Symposium at TU Wien, but now the oldest member of this group has sadly passed away at a ripe old age and yet unexpectedly. Fritz Sauter was not able to celebrate his 90th birthday in person for a few weeks. This made it all the more impressive to review his scientific oeuvre to a wide audience in February and to anchor his personality as a researcher and teacher in the memory of us all.

Fritz Sauter began his scientific career as an organic chemist at the University of Vienna. His extremely broad field of interest was already apparent at that time, as he completed full studies in zoology and botany in addition to chemistry. He also had a passion for history, particularly that of the ancient Orient, and so he attended a number of lectures in this field at a young age. When he later picked up guests of the institute from the airport, there was often a lap of honor in a cab around the Ringstrasse and other historic districts of Vienna, and Fritz Sauter was able to provide background information and anecdotes about many buildings and historical developments. A good acquaintance and colleague from North America with roots in Europe once described him very aptly as a “baroque personality” in the most positive sense of the former “polymaths”.

Ultimately, however, he focused on chemistry and obtained his doctorate in 1957. Together with his teacher and mentor Otto Hromatka, he then moved to what was then the Institute of Organic Chemistry at Vienna University of Technology in 1963. Here he diversified into the research field of heterocyclic chemistry (ring-shaped organic molecules that are essentially composed of additional types of atoms such as oxygen, nitrogen or sulphur in addition to carbon), which still plays a central role in plant protection, pharmaceutical and biological chemistry today. His independent scientific career reached its first high point in 1970 with his habilitation in organic chemistry. In 1978, he succeeded his mentor as Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology. In this position, he was to have a decisive influence over the following 20 years, producing several generations of students who went on to successful careers in industry and academia.

He always tried to combine his passion for cultural trips, particularly to the Middle East, with establishing scientific contacts and, above all, developing the aspect of knowledge transfer to less industrialized regions. This was impressively achieved by founding the Ibn Sina Symposium in Egypt, a regularly recurring symposium in the field of heterocyclic chemistry, which was the starting point for many years of cooperation and scientific exchange with many universities in the Orient. As co-founder of the Blue Danube Symposium in the “old Austrian” cultural area, he also succeeded in establishing lively contacts in the Eastern Bloc even before the Iron Curtain was opened, thus anticipating the historical developments towards the reunification of Europe by several years. It was precisely these visions of cross-cultural cooperation through scientific contacts and symposia in the original sense (an ancient convivial gathering) that always drove him and which could be arranged with diplomatic skill. These activities continue to have a strong impact today and influence subsequent generations of researchers.

Fritz Sauter was able to remain scientifically active into old age. After his retirement in 1998, he devoted himself primarily to the field of archaeometry, where he was once again able to combine his expertise in chemistry with his extensive knowledge of history. He continued to work on manuscripts together with former colleagues and took part in scientific discussions with his students until the very end. He was able to continue to develop his intellectual brilliance into old age, even if his body was unfortunately less and less able to cooperate and therefore no longer allowed him to travel.

Fritz Sauter passed away on 18.4.2020.

He was a role model for many, always polite and immensely well-read; his commitment made him a fatherly friend to many. We will always remember our teacher, colleague and mentor fondly.

Marko Mihovilovic