Background
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.
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.
Emeléus was educated at Street Leonards Collegiate School, Hastings, and Hastings grammar school followed by the Royal College of Science, Imperial College, London, graduating in 1923.
He gained his Doctor of Philosophy in 1926 and a Doctor of Science 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. Among his many students, notable is Norman Greenwood.
Emeléus served as president of the inorganic chemistry division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1955-1960).
He was also president of the Chemical Society (1958-1960) and of the Royal Institute of Chemistry (1963-1965). Emeléus died of heart failure at Addenbrooke"s Hospital, Cambridge, on 2 December 1993.
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Royal Society.
Married Mary C. Horton in 1931.