Lothar Kolditz
Lothar Kolditz (born September 30, 1929) is a German chemist and former politician. He was president of the National Front of the German Democratic Republic. Early life and education Kolditz was born in the municipality of Zschorlau on September 30, 1929, the son of the carpenter Paul Kolditz and his wife Ella, née Bauer. From 1941 to 1948 he attended high school in Aue. 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 has been married to Ruth, née Schramm, since 1951; the couple has two daughters and lives in Steinförde (a district of Fürstenberg). Academic career In 1957, Kolditz was appointed as a professor at the Technical University of Leuna-Merseburg; where he would teach inorganic and radiochemistry. 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). 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 December 31, 1991, due to the reunification of Germany. As a result, Kolditz retired and has lived in Fürstenberg ever since. 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 has continued to contribute to scientific publications during his retirement. Political career 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 October 30, 1981, Kolditz was elected President of the National Front of the German Democratic Republic, succeeding Erich Correns. In July