The Showcase of Czechoslovak Science: The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Science

Abstract

AbstractOne of the most successful institutes of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences was the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, which formed part of the Academy from the very beginning. Its origins date back to World War II. After the closure of the Czech universities in November 1939 the lecturers and students had to look for other opportunities. Some found refuge in industrial research and development, which later significantly influenced their academic work methods. This is especially true of the group of academicians around the future founder of the Institute, František Šorm, then working in the Association for Chemical and Foundry Production. The method was based on large teams focusing their research on a specific topic, anticipating its practical use in a particular time frame. Even though the Institute had been focused on basic research, they applied this as the principal concept in their academic work there, too. After the war, F. Šorm’s career progressed rapidly, especially after he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The university environment was not suited to his working methods, and he therefore went into non-university research, an area that saw dynamic development back then, and he also brought his colleagues along with him. In the early 1950s, he was involved in the preparations for the establishment of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, in which he incorporated his Institute. He became the first general secretary of the new institution, later its deputy chairman and in 1962–1969 he served as its chairman, a position that enabled him to advocate the aforementioned working methods as the basic model of academic work. He also continued in his political career, which he used to support his efforts to make the Institute a globally respected centre of chemical research, a goal which, however, was beyond the capacity of the Czechoslovak economy. František Šorm acted like a great man of science wielding considerable power, but that changed substantially after the August 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia. He was stripped of all his offices, but his colleagues from the occupation era led the Institute until 1986, guaranteeing the continuation of his scientific methods.