Milestones in monoamine oxidase research: discovery of (-)-deprenyl [antikvár]

Foreword Prof. Dr. Joseph Knoll is now 75 year old, a fact difficult to believe As one of his pupils, it is an honor to be invited to write the introduction for the Festschrift dedicated to him. I am convinced that his life might be particularly interesting to others. Therefore, I here describe some of the episodes that I remember and indicate how some of the chances that occurred have shaped his life and influenced the career of his pupils and his colleagues. Prof. KnoU was born in Budapest, in a family of four, in 1925. He had a fine education. After his escape from Auschwitz in 1945, as the only survivor of his family, he desperately wanted to go to a university. He was accepted at the Medical School of Péter Pázmány University in Budapest. He was more than glad to be invited to join the Dept. of Pharmacology as a student in February 1949. It was at this time that he also got involved in research. He worked in the lab from early morning until about midnight and then crossed the street and went home to sleep with his data and to dream about his future experiments. He never really minded the lack of sleep; he was married to work. When he got his MD degree in 1951 he had already completed his seventh scientific publication. In 1962, when the chairman. Prof. Béla Issekutz senior, retired he took over the chair at the age of 41. In research, KnoU gave everyone free rein, letting his staff study whatever interested them, even though initially all the support of departmental research came from money granted to him. Nevertheless, KnoU kept a close eye on the research activities of his department. In fact, he frequently visited us during our experiments. Those who have worked with him professionaUy recognized his inteUigence and strong personality. He did not hesitate to express his ideas, even dreams, vigorously and with passion, keenly formulating scientific hypotheses and testing their validity. In addition to his extensive research and teaching accomplishments, Dr. KnoU has played an important role in Hungarian science. The