Valdshtein (Waldstein) Abram Hirshevich (1 November 1899, Auce, Latvia – 1969, Riga) – scientist, chemical engineer.
Abram Valdshtein was born into the family of watchmaker Hirsh-Khaim Valdshtein (b. 1863, Jakobstadt – now Jēkabpils, Latvia – d. 1935, Riga) and Khaya-Gita Valdshtein (née Kan) (b. 1870, Sabile, Latvia – d. 1956, Riga).
Until the age of 13, he was educated by private tutors in Auce. He then studied at Chink’s Commercial School in Libau (now Liepāja), graduating in 1915. That same year, his family was deported to Rybinsk, Russia, where he completed his education at a commercial school (1917).
After returning to Latvia, he enrolled in the Faculty of Chemistry at what is now Riga Polytechnic Institute (1918). In 1919, he moved to Moscow to study at the Mining and Demolitions Department of the Moscow Military Engineering Courses. He took part in military action against Yudenich near Petrograd and in the campaign against Polish forces (1920–1921). He was interned in the German “Aris” camp, escaped to Lithuania, and was then deported back to Riga.
In 1922, Abram Valdshtein entered the Latvian State University, graduating in 1926. He began work on a chemical workshop producing tartaric acid (1927), and later experimented with producing citric acid from fodder molasses. In his apartment, he set up a small laboratory where he succeeded in isolating and stabilising a special strain of Aspergillus niger capable of fermenting molasses into citric acid.
In 1940, the Ministry of Food Industry of the Latvian SSR tasked him with launching industrial-scale citric acid production based on his method. In 1941, he was evacuated to Tavda (Sverdlovsk Region), where throughout the war he preserved and cultivated fermentation seed cultures. From 1942 to 1944, he worked as a senior research associate in the chemical laboratory of the Leningrad Plywood Research Institute, developing methods to replace scarce chemicals and adhesives from non-food plant proteins.
At the request of the Latvian SSR Ministry of Food Industry, he returned to Riga to head its Production and Technical Department and to organise a research laboratory for citric acid fermentation, where he deposited his preserved strains.
Abram Valdshtein led the establishment of the Riga Experimental Citric Acid Plant, which used molasses and became the only such enterprise in the USSR. The plant’s success laid the groundwork for several other citric acid facilities across the country.
From 1947 to 1950, he worked at the Institute of Citric Acid Fermentation. From 1950 to 1959, he was head of the experimental laboratory at Riga Chemical-Pharmaceutical Plant No. 6. From 1959 to 1966, he worked at the Central Design Bureau for Mechanisation and Automation (CPKB MA).
From his marriage to Franziska Moiseyevna Valdshtein (née Vazbutska) (b. 1906, Riga), a daughter was born: Evelina Abramovna Valdshtein (b. 1929, Riga).
In 1968, Abram Valdshtein applied for permission to visit his cousin Solomon Maksimovich Jakobson, a psychiatrist at a hospital in London, England. His request was denied.
Hirsh-Khaim Valdshtein (1863–1935) – father
Khaya-Gita Valdshtein (née Kan) (1870–1956) – mother
Max Khirshevich Valdshtein (1894, Auce – 1966, Israel) – brother
Nakhmon Khirshevich Valdshtein (1896, Auce – 1961, Riga) – brother
Rakhil Khirshevna Pyryatinskaya (née Valdshtein) (1897, Auce) – sister
Efrail Khirshevich Valdshtein (1898, Auce – 1960, Israel) – brother
Shmarnogu Grigoryevich Valdshtein (b. 1907, Auce) – brother
Sonya Khirshevna Riber (née Valdshtein) (b. 1910, Auce) – sister
Solomon Maksimovich Jakobson – cousin
Franziska Moiseyevna Valdshtein (née Vazbutska) (b. 1906) – wife
Evelina Abramovna Valdshtein (b. 1929) – daughter