The first reports of chemical analyses carried out at our University date back to the 17th century when the famous Jan Marek Marci z Kronladu (1595−1667) worked there. For the following centuries, analytical chemistry was linked to medicine, and at the Faculty of Medicine it formed, together with other chemical disciplines, the so-called Laboratorium chymicum. This single department was divided into three separate ones in 1892, with the Laboratory for General, Inorganic, and Analytical Chemistry headed by one of the greatest Czech chemists, Bohuslav Brauner (1855-1935).
In 1925, on the occasion of Bohuslav Brauner’s retirement, a separate Department of Analytical Chemistry was established. The 100th anniversary of its independence is an interesting opportunity to look both into the past and the future.
On Tuesday, 23 September 2024, a festive seminar was held in the CH2 lecture hall of the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, to launch the year of celebrating the 100th anniversary. The seminar was held under the auspices of the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, Prof. Jiří Zima, and the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the European Chemical Society. The organizers of the seminar were the Czech Chemical Society (Working Group of Analytical Chemistry and Working Group of Electrochemistry), the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the Faculty of Science of the Charles University, the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS, with the kind sponsorship of Metrohm Česká republika, s.r.o., Nicolet.CZ, Anton Paar, Merck, ChromSpec. The program of the seminar included many interesting lectures and personal meetings.
Vivat, crescat, floreat, cathedra chymiae analyticae!