Gomberg, Moses

Moses Gomberg, (born Feb. 8, 1866, Yelizavetgrad, Russian Empire [now Kirovograd, Ukraine]—died Feb. 12, 1947, Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.), Russian-born American chemist who initiated the study of free radicals in chemistry when in 1900 he prepared the first authentic one, triphenylmethyl.

At age 18 Gomberg migrated with his family to the United States because his father’s antitsarist activities made them unwelcome in Russia. He overcame poverty and language difficulties to earn his undergraduate degree (1890) and Ph.D. (1894) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Except for a year of study abroad, he was active in teaching and research at the university and was head of the chemistry department from 1927 to his retirement in 1936.