Lothar Kolditz

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.^[1]

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“ (About potassium borofluoride tetrasulfur trioxide and the preparation of trisulphuryl fluoride) 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 (a district of Fürstenberg). He died on 7 May 2025, at the age of 95.^[2]

In 1957, Kolditz was appointed a professor at the Technical University of Leuna-Merseburg; where he would teach inorganic and radiochemistry.^[3] 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 (1962–68). 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 (formerly the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, which was renamed that year).^[1][3]

From 1980 to 1990, Kolditz worked at the academy as director of the Central Institute for Inorganic Chemistry (ZIAC) 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.^[4]

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.^[1] 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 (DSF). 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.^[1][5]

• 1969: Corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences
• 1972: National Prize of the German Democratic Republic, 3rd Class
• 1972: Full member of the Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic
• 1976: Clemens Winkler Medal [de] of the Chemical Society of the German Democratic Republic
• 1983: Honorary Doctorate from the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
• 1984: Patriotic Order of Merit, in Gold
• 1988: Foreign Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences
• 1989: Outstanding Scientist of the People [de]
• 1992: Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences^[6]
• 1993: Member of the Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin [de]