Obituary – Professor Dr. Detlef Gröger

Professor Dr. Detlef Gröger.

Professor Dr. Detlef Gröger, a grandseigneur of pharmacognosy and natural products research, passed away on Sunday June 27th 2010 in Halle/Saale. He was an outstanding, highly recognized scientist and an eminent personality.

Detlef Gröger was born on March 28th, 1929 in Zschortau near Delitzsch, Saxony. After graduating from the König-Albert Gymnasium in Leipzig in 1947 he joined the “Löwen Apotheke” in Delitzsch from 1948 to 1950 for practical training. This was followed by the study of pharmacy at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He subsequently joined the group of the late Professor Kurth Mothes at the Institute of Genetics and Plant Cultivation in Gatersleben. This step was decisive in Detlef Gröger's development, setting him on course towards a career in research. There he also met his future wife, Lisa Bruhn. He earned his PhD degree in 1957 with a thesis on ergot alkaloids. In 1958 he moved with the research group of Professor Mothes to the new Institute of Biochemistry of Plants in Halle, where subsequently he established his own research group. In short order, this Institute, and with it Detlef Gröger, became known worldwide for its research on natural products, chemical plant physiology and pharmaceutical sciences. Detlef Gröger's recognition continued to grow with his academic accomplishments. Having completed his habilitation in 1963 he became a docent at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, where he taught Pharmaceutical Biology. In 1971 he was recognized by appointment as a Professor by the Academy of Sciences and at the University. In 1979 he served as a Visiting Professor at Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA and in 1993 was named an Affiliate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle.

By far the most prominent topic of his scientific work were the ergot alkaloids. He investigated the production of these pharmaceutically important compounds and the biosynthetic pathway by which these alkaloids are synthesized in the fungus Claviceps. Although the ergot alkaloids were his favorites they were by no means Detlef Gröger's only scientific interest. He also tackled the biosynthesis of many higher plant alkaloids but also non-alkaloidal compounds like the ergochromes. The techniques he employed spanned a wide range from isotope studies to the isolation and characterization of pathway enzymes and molecular biological investigations. His scientific and professional accomplishments were recognized by the award of the Hufeland Medal in Gold, the national prize of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and, most recently, of the Egon Stahl Medal in Gold.

His life and work were very much influenced by the political situation in the German Democratic Republic. In 1960/61, thanks to the efforts of Prof. Mothes, whom he promised to return, Detlef Gröger and his wife Lisa were able to spend a postdoctoral year in the laboratory of Professor V. E. Tyler in Seattle, USA. During this time the Berlin wall was erected. Being a man of his word, Detlef Gröger resisted the temptation to stay in the West and returned to the institute in Halle. He was an early member of the “Gesellschaft für Arzneipflanzenforschung”, but the communist authorities later forced him to withdraw his membership. Despite the intense pressure by the DDR to isolate its scientists from the West by restricting scientific communications and contacts, Prof. Gröger courageously kept up international interactions, which helped him to maintain a very high scientific standard in his research.

Detlef Gröger was an accomplished scientist of high personal integrity. He was also a very friendly person who had a good sense of humor – just take a look at his picture. Appropriately, his remains were buried on the St. Laurentius cemetery in Halle/Saale, right next to the Botanical Institute where he used to lecture and the Botanical Garden where he grew his plants. Our thoughts are with his wife Lisa and their children and grandchildren.

H. G. Floss, Seattle, USA
E. Leistner, Bonn, Germany