Daniel Wagner

* Breznóbánya, 1800 – † Budapest, January 10, 1890 / pharmacist, chemist, the first Hungarian doctor of pharmacy ; ; He completed his secondary school studies in Dobsina and Rozsnyó. He received his pharmacy diploma from the University of Pest on August 31, 1821. In March 1825, he earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Vienna. In his dissertation, he collected data and knowledge about the element potassium, which he had discovered barely 17 years earlier. He later expanded this work and enriched it with numerous experiments of his own. Upon returning from Vienna, in 1826, he first rented the pharmacy dedicated to the Red Crab in Bratislava (now a pharmaceutical museum), which he ran until 1831. In addition to his work, he also botanized at this time. He then moved from Bratislava to Pest, where in 1833 he applied for permission to open a pharmacy and a pharmaceutical and chemical laboratory. He received the permission a year later, on May 7, 1834. Over time, he expanded the chemical laboratory into a chemical plant, obtaining the capital necessary for its development by establishing a joint-stock company. The Pesti Technikai-Vegyészeti Gyár Rt. supplied sulfuric acid, tartaric acid, potassium cyanide, potassium chlorate, phosphorus, soda and other materials to chemical plants. During the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848/49, he was also involved in the production of gunpowder. In 1842, he actively participated in the organization of the meeting of the Hungarian Doctors and Naturalists in Bánya Biszterce and also analyzed the water of the Sliács spa. He also experimented with the production of artificial mineral waters. He perfected a method for detecting arsenic poisoning. He introduced forensic chemical analyses in Hungary. As the first responsible government's pharmaceutical consultant, Dániel Wagner drafted several bills to develop pharmaceutical production and raise the standard of pharmacist training. He later handed over the management of the factory to his sons, and he himself managed his Pest pharmacy until 1874. In 1886, Franz Joseph I bestowed upon him the title of Zvolen, recognizing his merits in public affairs and science. ; ; His main works: ; Über das Kalium, der Verbindungen der ersten Stufe der Zusammensetzung desselben und über das Aetzkali, 1825, ; Pharmazeutische-Medizinische Botanik, 1828, ; Magyarországnak közöszágálag ménetezétes történeriörlőr, 1844. ; ; One of his sons, iff. Dániel Wagner (Pest, 1838 – Budapest, February 6, 1880) was a doctor of medicine and chemist, worked in his father's pharmacy and published many professional articles in addition to his work. His other son, László Wagner (Pest, May 28, 1841 – Gossensass, July 2, 1888) was a doctor of humanities, agricultural economist, and professor at the Technical University.