Morris Schnitzer
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OBITUARY
Morris Schnitzer Published online: 27 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
InMorrisSchniterlaboratoryinOttawain1976.Emil,Doug,Morris, Yona Chen (from left standing, Nicola Senesi (with mustaches) and two other researchers (from left sitting). Morris Schnitzer passed away peacefully on June 9th at Hillel Lodge in Ottawa, Canada, at the age of 98, and was buried beside his wife Leah in the Jewish Memorial Garden in Osgoode. He was born in Bochum, Germany, on February 4th, 1922, and left Germany in 1938 due to the nazi persecution. During the war, he traveled a lot (Holland, France, Switzerland, Belgium) to avoid capture and detection, and was in prison, in the underground, worked on farms and was often on the run.Afterthewar,hefinallymovedtoCanadainMay1947,wherehe studiedhardandsuccessfullyforenteringMcGillUniversityin1948 whereheobtainedhisPhDinChemistryin1955.Aftertwoyearsasa researcher in industry, he started his very long and brilliant career of researchchemistattheDepartmentofAgriculture-CanadainOttawa until his formal retirement in 1991, after which he continued to conduct research and studies for some years longer. During his long and outstanding career Morris was very productive scientifically publishing more than 400 papers, co-authoring milestone scientific textbooks and presenting invited memorable keynote lectures in many relevant Conferences worldwide. His laboratory attracted many researchers including 30 postdoctoral fellows, visiting scientists and scholars (among whom two of the undersigned)from15differentcountries,withmostofwhomhekeptin touch for years until very recently. Morris was unanimously appreciated as an inspiring teacher, mentor and colleague by generations
of researchers, and as a world-renowned scientist for pioneering the use of rigorous organic and physical chemistry principles and spectroscopic tools to unveil the structure and key processes of Soil Organic Matter-Humic Substances. His extended studies on the Armadale podzol fulvic acids and chernozem humic acids have been the fundamental basic materials for hundreds of scientists all around the world. Thanks to his sharp and innovative scientific approach and wide knowledge, Morris strongly contributed to the advancement of modern Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. His scientific approach and his tireless working experience was contagious for so many very young and older scientists over the decades of his effortless activity, trying to analyze and describe the most intimate chemical nature of organic matter in soils and sediments. Morris claimed that he could write a manuscript in half a day and this was likely true. In the same way, Morris was particularly capable and effective in teaching students to write a manuscript, and set up an experiment using a rigorous and scientific approach. His positive attitude, his effortless and solid approach to the scientific work were probably the most direct and simple tribute to his long and extraordinary human experience. He was conferred sev
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