Sachs, Julius von (1832-1897)

German botanist and plant physiologist who developed several important experimental techniques and showed that photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts (the structure in a plant cell containing the green pigment chlorophyll) and produces oxygen. He was especially gifted in his experimental approach; some of his techniques are still in use today, such as the simple iodine test, which he used to show the existence of starch in a whole leaf.

Sachs was born in Breslau, Silesia. He was educated at Breslau Gymnasium, but had to leave school early because of the death of his parents. He managed to find a job as an assistant to the physiologist Johannes Purkinje in Prague 1850 and was later able to complete his schooling. He attended Prague University, graduating with a PhD 1856.

In 1857 he was appointed as a lecturer in plant physiology, the first of his kind in Germany. In 1859, he moved to be an assistant in plant physiology at the Agricultural and Forestry College in Tharandt. In 1861, he went to work at the Agricultural College in Poppelsdorf before becoming a professor at Freiburg im Breisgau 1867. In 1868, he was appointed professor of botany at Würzburg University and was a gifted and influential teacher with students coming from across Europe to study with him. He was made rector of the university 1871 and a privy counsellor 1877.