George A. Olah

George Andrew Olah died on March 8, 2017, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

George Andrew Olah was born as Oláh György in Budapest, Hungary, on May 22, 1927 to Magda (Krasznai) and Julius Oláh, a lawyer. He received a typical middle-class upbringing and attended a Gymnasium (a combination of junior and senior high school) at one of the best schools in Budapest, the high school of Budapesti Piarista Gimnazium (Scolopi fathers).

As a young boy, he was more interested in history and the humanities rather than science. His school years were marred by war which ravaged the country though he successfully managed to complete high school amidst the politically chaotic and violent environment.

Having developed an interest in chemistry during his high school years, he enrolled at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics to study the subject. He was especially intrigued by organic chemistry.

He later became a research assistant to Professor Geza Zemplen, a senior professor of organic chemistry who had established a reputed school in Hungary. Olah’s experience of working with Zemplen was an enriching one.

He earned his doctorate in 1949 and taught at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics until 1954. He was then invited to join the newly established Central Chemical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1954.

Around this time he was also able to establish a small research group in organic chemistry, housed in temporary laboratories of an industrial research institute. The research group was performing well but a political situation disrupted their work.

In October 1956, Hungary revolted against the Soviet rule and the revolution turned out to be a very violent and turbulent one. There was much bloodshed and loss of life and Budapest was left ravaged by the political upheavals. In such a grim situation, thousands of Hungarians—including Olah and his family—fled their homeland to seek a better life in the West.

He first went to England for a short while before moving to Canada where he became a research scientist at the Dow Chemical Company in 1957. The company also hired two of Olah’s original Hungarian Collaborators, including Steven Kuhn.

It was during his years at Dow that he began his pioneering work on carbocations. Dow was a major user of carbocationic chemistry and Olah’s work also had practical significance and helped to improve some industrial processes.

Best known for his work on carbocations, George A. Olah successfully isolated the positively charged, electron-deficient fragments of hydrocarbons (carbocations or carbonium ions) through the use of superacids and ultracold solvents. His pioneering research led to the development of a new branch of organic chemistry.