Günther Friedländer
Günther Friedländer (April 8, 1902 – May 25, 1975) was a German pharmacist, botanist, pharmacognosist, food chemist, an industrialist of medical products, and the founder of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.
Günther Friedländer was born on April 8, 1902, in Königshütte (Chorzów), Upper Silesia, in Germany – a developing coal industry area.
In 1912, the Friedländer family moved from Kőnigshütte, an area polluted with coal dust, west to Ratibor, where a small Jewish community lived.
In 1920, Friedländer was accepted to Wilhelm Friedrich University, School of Pharmacy in Breslau, and became a member of the Zionist student movement: KJV (Kartell Jüdischer Verbindungen).
Upon completing his exams and receiving the first science degree, Friedländer went to the University of Bern in Switzerland to do his doctorate studies with Alexander Tschirch.
Her husband Max Kober, Friedländer's uncle and the brother of his mother Paula, was a pharmacist and the owner of the pharmacy in Görlitz.
Immediately after the Nazis came to power – and after the "humiliating trip" that he experienced in Görlitz – he decided that it was time to immigrate to Erez Israel.
At this meeting, movement committee delegates, including Friedländer, met with Dr. Chaim Weizmann that told them: "Industry is the basis and foundation for the development of a place.
In order to assist these workers to achieve the diploma, Friedländer prepared on May 5, 1934, a memorandum indicating cardinal points that are required for establishing a clinic and a university institute in Jerusalem that will create the basis for the school of pharmacy, a place where professional courses will be taught to pharmacy students that did not complete their formal studies.
On April 19, 1935, Friedländer wrote a memorandum to Professor Otto Warburg, one of the research pioneers of nature in Erez Israel and the manager of the Botanical Department in the Hebrew University.
Friedländer used to say during difficult economic times, that a pharmaceutical industry has a strong basis in that: "A Jewish mother will always buy medicine for her children."
In the Second World War, the company provided medicine to the allied forces and in particular to the British army present in the Middle East.
Teva workers pride was raised, and they felt there is a reward for their initiative, ideas and strict performance and appreciation for company excellent man-power.
During the Second World War and until the termination of the British mandate regime, Teva exported its medical products to Arabic countries.
Later on, the Teva company exported its products to the United States, Soviet Union (USSR), health institutes in Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Persia, and Burma.
Friedländer emphasized the importance of education and training of Teva personnel for the various operations as demanded by the pharmaceutical industry as well as on achieving broader knowledge and participation in various courses held outside the company.
The authorities gave Teva 4.25 acres at convenient payment terms in the area of Tamir mountain in Jerusalem in order to build the new company.
On September 14, 2016, a circle located at the intersection between the streets Haklai and Shachrai in Bayit VeGan was inaugurated in the name of Friedländer: "The founder of Teva, the pioneer of the pharmaceutical industry in Israel."
