Toyokichi Takamatsu

Applied chemist. Born as the second son of Kihei Takamatsu, a headman of Edo. In 1878 (Meiji 11), he graduated from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, and studied at universities in England and Germany. After returning to Japan in 1882, he became a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, and in 1884 he became a professor. At his suggestion, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was separated from the Faculty of Science and newly established, and when the Imperial University was founded, he was in charge of the first applied chemistry course (coal and dyes) at the College of Technology. In 1903 (Meiji 36), he was asked by Eiichi Shibusawa to become a managing director of Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., and served as president from 1909 to 1914. In 1914 (Taisho 3), he became the chief member of the Chemical Industry Research Council established in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and worked hard on policies to foster the chemical industry, serving as the second director of the Tokyo Industrial Research Institute from 1915 to 1924. He also contributed to the establishment of the RIKEN and the Academic Research Council, and served as president and officer of various domestic and international academic societies, including the Tokyo Chemical Society, the Society of Industrial Chemistry, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, and was known as the elder statesman of applied chemistry in Japan.

[Toshio Yamazaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

応用化学者。江戸の名主高松喜兵衛の二男として生まれる。1878年（明治11）東京大学理学部化学科を卒業して、イギリスとドイツの大学に留学した。1882年帰国後、東京大学講師となり、1884年教授となった。彼の建議により理学部から分離して工芸学部が新設され、帝国大学創立とともに同大学工科大学最初の応用化学第一講座（石炭・染料）を担当した。1903年（明治36）渋沢栄一に懇請されて東京瓦斯(がす)株式会社の常務となり、1909～1914年社長についた。1914年（大正3）農商務省に設置された化学工業調査会の筆頭委員となり、化学工業育成政策に尽力し、1915～1924年東京工業試験所第2代所長を務めた。そのほか、理化学研究所、学術研究会議などの設置に貢献し、東京化学会、工業化学会、日本薬学会など内外諸学会の会長・役員などを歴任、日本の応用化学の元老とよばれた。

［山崎俊雄］

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