Lothar Kolditz


Lothar Kolditz was a German chemist and politician. He was president of the National Front of the German Democratic Republic.

Background

Kolditz was born in the municipality of Zschorlau on 30 September 1929, the son of the carpenter Paul Kolditz and his wife Ella, née Bauer. From 1941 to 1948, he attended high school in Aue.
Kolditz studied chemistry from 1948 to 1952 at the Humboldt University of Berlin, graduating with a degree in chemistry. His undergraduate thesis "Über Kaliumborfluoridtetraschwefeltrioxyd und die Darstellung von Trisulfurylfluorid“ was written under the guidance of Hans-Albert Lehmann.
In 1954, he also received his doctorate with his dissertation "About Polyarsenatophosphate" under the supervision of Erich Thilo. Kolditz then habilitated in 1957 with a thesis "On compounds of pentavalent phosphorus, arsenic and antimony with fluorine and chlorine".
Kolditz was married to Ruth, née Schramm, since 1951; the couple had two daughters and lived in Steinförde. He died on 7 May 2025, at the age of 95.

Academic career

In 1957, Kolditz was appointed a professor at the Technical University of Leuna-Merseburg; where he would teach inorganic and radiochemistry. After Franz Hein retired, Kolditz was appointed to the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena in 1959. There he was the director of the Inorganic Chemistry Institute until 1962.
In 1962, Kolditz returned to the Humboldt University of Berlin, initially as a chair and director of the First Chemical Institute. From 1965 to 1968, he was also Vice-Rector for Natural Sciences at the university. In 1969, he was elected as a corresponding member of the German [Academy of Sciences at Berlin]. After the reforms at the university in 1968, he became Humboldt University's director of chemistry from 1971 to 1979. In 1972, he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic.
From 1980 to 1990, Kolditz worked at the academy as director of the Central Institute for Inorganic Chemistry in Berlin. The ZIAC was created in 1971 by merging the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry, founded in 1952, and the Institute for Applied Silicate Research, founded in 1951. The Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic and the ZIAC were dissolved on 31 December 1991, due to the reunification of Germany. As a result, Kolditz retired and lived in Fürstenberg ever afterwards.
Kolditz's publishing activities include around 350 original publications in academic journals, 37 patents and well over 200 colloquium lectures. He was a long-standing member of the editorial board of several journals. Kolditz continued to contribute to scientific publications during his retirement.

Political career

In September 1971, he was appointed to the electoral commission of the German Democratic Republic in preparation for the 1971 East German general election. On 30 October 1981, Kolditz was elected President of the National Front of the German Democratic Republic, succeeding Erich Correns. In July 1982, Kolditz was elected as a member of the State Council of the GDR. From 1983 to 1990, he was a member of the presidium of the Society for German-Soviet Friendship. From 1986 to 1990, Kolditz was a member of the Presidential Council of the Cultural Association of the GDR. In the 1986 East German general election, Kolditz was elected to the Volkskammer as a representative of the Cultural Association of the GDR.

Memberships, honors and Awards

Publications

Textbooks and booksRadiochemistry ''. In: Gustav Hertz: Textbook of Nuclear Physics, Volume III, Applied Nuclear Physics .'' 1962.
  • Editor: Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski: Textbook of Inorganic Chemistry ''. 1963.Halides of Arsenic and Antimony. In: H. J. Emeleus: Advances in Inorganic Chemistry and Radiochemistry. Vol. 7. Academic Press, New York/London 1965.Halides of Arsenic and Antimony. In: Viktor Gutmann: Halogen Chemistry. Vol. 2. Academic Press New York/London 1967.
  • Editor: Inorganic: Text and practical book of inorganic chemistry; with an introduction to physical chemistry .'' 1967.
  • Compounds of Nb and Ta . In: Niedenzu, Lexington, Kentucky: Houben-Weyl, Methodicum Chimicum. Academic Press, New York/London 1974.
  • with Günter Kauschka: Exchange Reactions.'' In: Recent Developments in Inorganic Chemistry ''. 1974.
  • Editor and co-author: Inorganic Chemistry . 1978.
  • with Jurij Alexandrovič Buslaev und Eleonora Alexandrovna Kravčenko: Nuclear quadrupole resonance in inorganic chemistry. 1987.Perfluorohalogenoorgano Compounds of Main Group Elements. In: Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry. 8th Edition. Springer 1994.The Linden University 1945 to 1990 - reconstruction, consolidation and turbulence in chemistry, the Prorectorate for Natural Sciences. In: Wolfgang Girnus and Klaus Meier: Humboldt University under the Linden .'' Leipzig University Press 2010.Preparation of Fluorine-Containing Molecular Halides and Heteropolar Salts with Elements of Group 15 and Niobium and Tantalum Halides; Fluoro and Fluorohydroxy Complexes of As, Sb and Sn. In: Herbert W. Roesky: Efficient Preparations of Fluorine Compounds. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2013.