Gedeon Richter is an outstanding pharmacist and businessman. Founded Gedeon Richter. The talent and innovation of an outstanding personality remains an example for many entrepreneurs to this day.
A lot is known about the history of the company founded by Richter. His biography has been and remains the pride of many businessmen in Hungary, the homeland of the pharmacist.
The road to vocation
The biography of an outstanding person began in 1872. The boy was born in the village of Eched on the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary on September 23 in the family of a merchant. The child's parents passed away shortly after the birth of the baby. Together with his two older brothers, he was raised by his mother's relatives in the town of Gyandyoshe.
Gideon studied at a prestigious gymnasium. After her, the young man continued his education at the Kolodzhvar University. In 1893, the student was awarded the diploma of an apprentice pharmacist. Almost immediately, the young man began his studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Budapest.
After a year of studies, Gideon remained at the medical department of the university for another year. In 1895 his studies were completed. Richter became the owner of a pharmacist diploma. The document allowed the graduate to open his own pharmacy. For a couple of years, Gideon worked as an assistant pharmacist in Szolnok and Miskolc.
In 1897, an inquisitive young man went on a tour of Western Europe to get acquainted with the experience of pharmacies and study the work of the largest pharmaceutical industries. Gedeon worked in the pharmacies of Beregov and Stary Smakovets. The travels gave the young man an idea of the newest organotherapy drugs. Richter was sure that they could cure any disease. The new direction became a matter of part of Gideon's life.
Life's work
Richter used his knowledge, experience and finances to create his own business. In 1901, the aspiring entrepreneur became the owner of the Shash pharmacy in Budapest. She still operates at the same address. A laboratory was created in it, where many, including organotherapeutic, preparations with hormones isolated from animal organs were developed.
This was a novelty for Hungary. The first was an injectable Tonogen Suprarenale with adrenaline-derived adrenaline.
By his thirtieth birthday, Richter decided to create an industrial enterprise on the basis of Shash under his own name. The second important step was the arrangement of personal life. Anna Winkler became the chosen one of Geleon. The girl was the only daughter of a timber producer.
The family members of the future wife later became shareholders and directors at the pharmaceutical enterprise of Anna's husband. Together, the couple remained for the rest of their lives. In 1903 their son Laszlo was born.
In 1907, the first Gedeon Richter plant appeared in the Kobanje district of Budapest. It produced not only drugs of biological origin. Also, the plant later developed synthetic-based drugs. Basically, pain relievers, disinfectants and antipyretics were produced. The most famous of the drugs was Kalmopyrin. Its production continues to this day.
Success
In 1911, the production of the latest drugs began. Successful activity was interrupted by the First World War. The Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist. After transformations on the territory of the country, Richter lost his company. She was nationalized. However, after the fall of the regime, Gideon was again able to return to control of his brainchild.
In 1927, a jubilee publication was published with data on the profit of the enterprise for a quarter of a century. In 1929, Richter was promoted to royal councilor. By 1930, about a dozen subsidiaries of Gedeon Richter appeared in Italy, Mexico, and Great Britain.
There were also factories in Zagreb, Warsaw and even São Paulo. In total, at least 40 representative offices operated outside Hungary. The company was one of the first to enter the European insulin market. It featured about 100 pharmaceutical specialties.
The business, once founded by a young businessman, has become one of the most important foreign trade enterprises in the country. Research and development of original drugs became the key moments of the company's strategy.
Gradually "Gedeon Richter" was transformed into a well-known European pharmaceutical research center. Laszlo Richter completed his studies in Zurich with a doctorate in chemistry. He married in 1932. In a marriage with the daughter of the famous surgeon Ilona Lombayer, two daughters appeared, the granddaughters of Gideon.
Memory of a great man
By the beginning of World War II, the company had become one of the largest exporters in the country. With the beginning of 1939, Gideon had to leave the post of chairman of the board of directors. Its founder was forced to completely abandon the company by 1942.
Gideon managed to get his son to leave the country. In 1944 the activity of the enterprise was suspended. An outstanding person passed away in 1944, on December 30.
The principles laid down by him are still valid in the company. Richter is recognized as the founder of the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry. The name of Gideon is mentioned first among national scientists and economists. The Gedeon Richter company constantly occupies the first positions among the national manufacturers of pharmaceuticals.
In 2010, the National Association MOCZ decided to honor the memory of one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in the country with events in his honor under the motto: "Innovative developments - the historical message of Gedeon Richter."
