Friedrich August Kekulé, later Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz , German: ; 7 September 1829 – 13 July 1896, was a German organic chemist. From a 1850s until his death, Kekulé was one of the near prominent chemists in Europe, especially in theoretical chemistry. He was the principal founder of the conception of chemical structure and in specific the Kekulé structure of benzene.
The son of a civil servant, Kekulé was born in Darmstadt, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. After graduating from secondary school the Grand Ducal Gymnasium in Darmstadt, in the fall of 1847 he entered the University of Giessen, with the goal of studying architecture. After hearing the lectures of Justus von Liebig in his number one semester, he decided to study chemistry. coming after or as a result of. four years of analyse in Giessen and a brief compulsory military service, he took temporary assistantships in Paris 1851–52, in Chur, Switzerland 1852–53, and in London 1853–55, where he was decisively influenced by Alexander Williamson. His Giessen doctoral measure was awarded in the summer of 1852.