Hermann Franz (Herman Francis) Mark

Born:	05-03-1895
Faculty:	Philosophical School
Category:	Expelled teacher

Hermann Franz (Herman Francis) MARK (born on May 3rd, 1895 in Vienna, died on April 6th, 1992 in Austin, Texas/USA), had graduated at the Philosophical School at the University of Vienna in Chemistry on June 17th, 1921 with the academic degree 'Dr. phil.' (dissertation: 'Das Pentaphenyläthyl und über eine neue Darstellungsmethode von katalytisch wirksamem Nickel'). After some years of research and lecturing in Germany he returned to Austria for political reasons and became professor for chemistry at the Philosophical School of the University of Vienna in 1932. He was persecuted in times of Nazism as a Jew lost his position and was thrown out of the university on April 22nd, 1938.
He was able to emigrate to New York/USA, were he became very successful. Nevertheless he was deprived of his academic degree on November 7th, 1944 with the racist argument, that he as a Jew was not considered dignified an academic degree of a German university ('eines akademischen Grades einer deutschen Hochschule unwürdig'). It was the last deprivation of this kind at the University of Vienna.
It took 11 years since the deprivation - and a very long time since the end of Nazism - until the regranting of the doctorate took finally place on May 15th, 1955.

Lit.: DEICHMANN 2001, 149f., 181-187, 201f., 253-255, 404-410, 503-510; Biographical Encyclopedia of the World, 3 Vols., New York 1940-1946; CZEIKE Vol. 4 1995; DEGENER 1935; EMOEDI/TEICHL 1937; Gedenkbuch für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften; KILLY Vol. 6 1997; ROEDER Vol. 2 1983; TEICHL 1951.