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Johann Gottlieb (February 15, 1815 – March 4, 1875) was an Austrians chemist who first synthesized Propionic acid. He is also known for describing and naming Paramylon.
At the Joanneum in Graz, the chair of physics and chemistry held by Anton Schrötter was split into one for physics and one for chemistry following Schrötter’s appointment at the TU Wien in 1843. In early 1846, Gottlieb was appointed professor for general and technical chemistry to that newly created chair. He first reorganised the laboratory formerly used for physical and chemical purposes. This and his work on textbooks lead to a period of reduced scientific publication activity. Gottlieb then also engaged somewhat in politics serving as a member to the Styria federal state parliament in 1848 where he represented a moderate liberal political position.
In 1867/68 Gottlieb was elected director of the Joanneum, and served as its rector again in 1874/75 when the Joanneum acquired its new status of a royal technical college. Gottlieb heavily contributed to the reorganisation coming with that new status. On 3rd March 1875, Gottlieb broke down in his office and died the next day in his home following a stroke. Johann Gottlieb was married and a father of six.
Johann Gottlieb was remembered as a passionate researcher, restless worker and an excellent rhetorician. His Guide to Qualitative Chemical Analysis (Leitfaden der qualitativen Analyse (1869)) provided insights to his didactic experiences and counts among some rare documents of university teaching and laboratory exercises of its time.Alois Kernbauer, 'Chemical Education in the Habsburg Monarchy’s Universities and Technical Colleges around 1861'. In: Pioneering Ideas for the Physical and Chemical Sciences: Josef Loschmidt's Contributions and Modern Developments in Structural Organic Chemistry, Atomistics, and Statistical Mechanics.(New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 1997). Gottlieb thus followed and shared Justus von Liebig’s approaches in chemistry education which were introduced to universities and technical colleges in the Austrian Empire in the early 1840s. It was Johann Gottlieb to convince Leopold von Pebal, his later assistant, to pursue a career in chemistry. Lithes University of Graz (biography in German)
Based on his scientific exchange with Ludwig Karl Schmarda during Schmarda’s time in Graz, Johann Gottlieb published his work on Paramylon.
Gottlieb was also the most prolific Austrian textbook writer of his time and his Vollständiges Taschenbuch der Chemischen Technologie (1852) was the first of its kind in the German speaking region.
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