Zemel Eugene

Zemel Eugene (1858-1922), German pharmacist. His bona fide name was Julius Iohann Zemel. He was the descendant of an old German family. His familial coat of arms is dated by 1206 and the original insignia is kept in Nurnberg, Germany. Born in Groningen, the Netherlands. There he studied at a local classical school; however, after reaching the 4th grade, he left the school and in 1876, he departed to St. Petersburg, where he received the status of pharmacist’s assistant. In 1881 E. Zemel arrived in Georgia and found work at the oldest chemist’s shop of Tbilisi, belonging to Doctor Shakhporiants, MD. Later he moved to the new working place – the chemist’s shop of a Tbilisi clinic. In 1883, he moved to Moscow and entered the Medical Faculty of the Moscow University. In 1884 the academic council of the university awarded him the grade of a pharmacist. At the end of 1885 E. Zemel returned to Tbilisi and resumed his work at the chemist’s shop of the clinic. In 1898, the city administration granted him the permission to open a chemist’s shop at the corner of Olga Street (current M. Kostava Str.) and Vere Downslope (present-day M. Javakhishvili Str.). Apart from the drugstore, E. Zemel had a small enterprise where he poduced soft drinks made of fruit juice. The chemist’s shop had an oval shape and E. Zemel lived in the building of his own drugstore. For 23 years, E. Zemel ran the drugstore, which developed into a main provider of Tbilisians with medical remedies. The popularity of the drugstore scaled up, when its owner started to pay money to the tram drivers, who used to call out – ‘Zemel! Zemel!’ – when they stopped the tram at Zemel’s pharmacy shop. Today, there is no building in Vere district, which used to belong to E. Zemel. In 1930s it was demolished in connection with the expansion of Rustaveli Square. Later, a new drugstore was opened at the place, where the old one used to be. By tradition, people referred to the new chemist’s shop as Zemel’s drugstore. Even today, the entire neighborhood is called ‘Zemel’ by Tbilisians.