Georg-Maria Schwab (pronounced [ˈɡeːɔʁk maˈʁiːa ʃvaːp], Greek: Γεώργιος Σβαμπ; 3 February 1899 – 23 December 1984) was a German-Greek physical chemist recognised for his important contributions in the field of catalysis and the kinetics thereof.

[1][2][3][4] Schwab's early academic career in Berlin and Würzburg (1923–1928) was characterised by meticulous experimental work as a kineticist, before starting his specialisation in heterogeneous catalysis in Munich (1928–1938).

[1][2][3][4] Dismissed by Nazi Germany on anti-Semitic grounds, he emigrated to Greece with the help of his future wife Elly Schwab-Agallidis, where together, they continued conducting physico-chemical research (1939–1950).

[5] Georg-Maria finished his secondary education at the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin, and upon turning 18 was conscripted for WWI and served for a year with the Bavarian Army in Flanders.

[3] Schwab remained at his position in Munich until 1938, when he was expelled and barred from teaching by Nazi authorities on account of "racial grounds" i.e. his half-Jewish origin.

[1][4] Schwab was in a difficult situation during the Axis occupation of Greece, when he once again faced danger from the German occupying forces due to his Jewish background.

Schwab's academic career was prolific in the many fields he became involved with; most famous were his contributions to the understanding and kinetics of phenomena relating to heterogeneous catalysis.

[1] Some of the problems on which Schwab worked on his own in this period included the thermal decomposition of methane, chemical reactions taking place during a cold cathode discharge, and the speed of dissolution of gases.

[2][3] Among the catalysis-related topics he studied in Munich were the kinetics of heterogeneously catalysed reactions, the nature of the heat of adsorption, the poisoning of catalysts and the spatial distribution of active catalytic sites.

[1][4] In the Kanellopoulos Institute (1939–1950), with the academic freedom he was given Schwab produced research on various occasional topics such as inorganic chromatography (which he is credited with inventing), turn-over transitions, carbon adsorption and properties of parahydrogen.