Harry Julius Emeléus CBE, FRS[1] (22 June 1903 – 2 December 1993) was an English inorganic chemist and a professor in the department of chemistry, Cambridge University.[2]
Emeléus was born in Poplar, London on 22 June 1903, the son of Karl Henry Emeléus (1869–1948), a pharmacist who was born in Vaasa, Finland. The family moved to the Old Pharmacy in Battle, Sussex shortly after Emeléus was born. His elder brother Karl George Emeléus (1901–1989) went on to become professor of physics at the Queen's University of Belfast.[2]
Emeléus was educated at St Leonards Collegiate School, Hastings, and Hastings Grammar School followed by the Royal College of Science, Imperial College, London, graduating in 1923. He gained his PhD in 1926 and a DSc three years later. During his post-graduate studies he spent time at the University of Karlsruhe as a student of Alfred Stock and two years at Princeton University with Professor Hugh Stott Taylor.[2] Among his many students and research colleagues, notable are Norman Greenwood, Ken McTaggart and F. Gordon A. Stone.
Emeléus served as president of the inorganic chemistry division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1955–60). He was also president of the Chemical Society (1958–60) and of the Royal Institute of Chemistry (1963–5).[2]
Emeléus died of heart failure at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on 2 December 1993. He was survived by his four children, his wife having predeceased him in January 1991.[2]