Later on, we met several times, e.g., in Germany and Hungary. Professor Hoffmann`s lectures were very important for us. I remember his marvelous talk on “Primary processes of photosynthetic energy conversion in higher plants” and “Laser spectroscopic investigations on the S0–S1 subbands of

chlorophyll a in vivo”. I am grateful to Professor Paul Hoffmann for inspiring me in my research work and teaching. I always tried to confer ideas of phenomena CA3 datasheet occurring in photosynthesis and to underline how human beings can follow nature to take advantage in our “ordinary” life, science and technology. Professor Paul Hoffmann was always kind, a smiling and a charming man, very open to other people. I will always remember him. Hoffmann always encouraged the members of his research group to

develop their own international cooperation. He also initiated fruitful collaboration and personal contacts among the authors of this obituary, which resulted in several joint publications (see e.g., Höxtermann et al. 1982, 1986; Lokstein et al. 1993, 1994, 1995). Based on his communicative competence combined with high scientific reputation, the “International Photosynthesis Workshops”, which were organized by him and his team in the 1970s and 1980s, became important platforms for international scientific exchange between researchers from Eastern and Western Europe and helped to surmount political boundaries. CX-5461 price Hoffmann also found means to establish links with research groups from the West. Moreover, his personal commitment and his invaluable contact with many scientists were also beneficial

for the establishment of the primary photosynthesis research journal “Photosynthetica” (Prague), in 1967, of which he was an editorial board member until his untimely death. (For a history of this journal, see Govindjee et al. 2002.) Following the re-unification of Germany, the “Institut für Biologie” (Institute for Biology) at Humboldt University was entirely re-organized and Paul Hoffmann—due to his personal integrity and scientific reputation—was re-appointed as a Professor in 1992; he then held the Chair Ribonucleotide reductase of Plant Physiology. Hoffmann’s activities were not restricted to the university only. Together with a team of university and school teachers, he compiled a standard textbook for teaching biology in secondary schools (Hoffmann et al. 1996). After his retirement in 1996 (Fig. 2), he was succeeded by Bernhard Grimm, who now holds the Chair of Plant Physiology and continues research on physiological and molecular biological aspects of photosynthesis at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Fig. 2 Professor Paul Hoffmann on his 65th birthday, in 1996. Courtesy of E. Helmer Paul Hoffmann was one of the initiators of the highly successful Berlin-Potsdam area “Selleck GSK126 Sonderforschungsbereich” (SFB, Collaborative Research Center) 429 “Molecular Physiology, Energetics and Regulation of Plant Primary Metabolic Processes”.