Alexander ‘Sasha’ Kasal, a witness to the beginnings of steroid chemistry at IOCB, has passed away at 90

Alexander Kasal led the Department of Steroid Chemistry at IOCB for twenty years in the past and remained there almost until the very end. Although he was officially retired for many years, he spent three days a week from early morning hours cataloging about seven and a half thousand substances developed by steroid chemists at IOCB into a computer database, the IOCB compound library. During this time, any younger colleagues could come to him for help or advice, relying on his friendliness and welcoming attitude.

At the beginning of this June, Dr. Kasal celebrated his 90th birthday with his colleagues at IOCB. The celebration was organized by the current head of the Neurosteroids research group, Dr. Eva Kudová, who was close to him. She recalls: “Sasha Kasal is and will always remain a legend of Czech steroid chemistry for me. It was an honor to learn the craft of steroids in his presence because when God was giving out humanity in 1934, he stayed at the Kasal household for a very long coffee. However, I also feel humility and responsibility. I would like to continue developing the legacy that Sasha left here, the library of steroid substances, in the ‘Kasal way.’ In his memory, we will call it the Alexander Kasal Steroid Library.”

Alexander Kasal is the author of 133 scientific articles and five book chapters. In 1983, he became a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and seven years later, a member of the IOCB Scientific Board. He belonged to the Biotechnology Society, the Czech Chemical Society, and in 1997 he received the Honorary Medal of the Polish Chemical Society.

Those who met Alexander Kasal in person remember him not only as an excellent scientist but also as a kind man with an outstanding sense of humor, who treated others with respect and kindness. The current director of IOCB, Prof. Jan Konvalinka, experienced this firsthand: “Sasha Kasal was one of the kindest and most positive people I have met in Czech science. The combination of extraordinary erudition, great professional authority, and good humor was invaluable. We will miss his knowledge, vast overview, and kind smile greatly.”

With Alexander Kasal’s passing, we lose a witness who observed the changes in science from the 1950s to the present day. He personally experienced how different political systems and the rapid technological revolution of modern times influenced its development. His human qualities are evidenced by his courage to publicly express his dissenting opinion during the dark moments of Czechoslovak history when Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country. However, it was natural for him to always look at reality from the better side and spice it up with his typical humor. Some of his insights were captured in his conversation with Veronika Sedláčková in the podcast CHEmic, recorded at the beginning of this year.