Joseph König

Franz Joseph König (1843 to 1930) was a German chemist noted as the founder of German food chemistry, who developed many analytical techniques and created the foundations for the modern quality control of foodstuffs. Born in Lavesum, Haltern, in North Rhine-Westphalia, he studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1871 he became director of the newly established agricultural research station in Münster, in 1892 an honorary professor at the Münster Royal Academy and in 1899 holder of a chair at what is now the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität; he was elected a member of the Leopoldina in 1887. His Chemie der menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genußmittel appeared from 1878, and the Joseph König Memorial Medal of the Food Chemistry Society was endowed in his memory in 1934.