Rudolph Schoenheimer

Rudolph Schoenheimer, also spelled Rudolf (1898 to 1941) was a German-American biochemist who developed the technique of isotope labelling of biomolecules, enabling detailed study of metabolism. This work revealed that all the constituents of an organism are in a constant state of chemical renewal. Born in Berlin, he graduated in medicine from the Friedrich Wilhelm University there, learned further organic chemistry at the University of Leipzig and then studied biochemistry at the University of Freiburg, where he rose to be Head of Physiological Chemistry. He spent the 1930 to 1931 academic year at the University of Chicago, and in 1933, after the Nazis came to power, he emigrated from Germany to Columbia University to join the department of Biological Chemistry.