On 9 October 1776 – 28 September according to the old style – Dāvids Hieronīms Grindelis was born in Riga, on Zaķusala, into the family of the mast sorter Miķelis Grindelis. His path led from Riga Cathedral School and the “Elephant Pharmacy” to Jena and Tartu, where he became professor of chemistry and pharmacy and rector of the university. In Riga, Grindelis founded a society of chemists and pharmacists, published the first chemistry and pharmacy journal in the Russian Empire, and entered Latvian scientific history as the first natural scientist of Latvian origin.

Grindelis’s life belongs to the age of Riga Enlightenment and early professional science, when pharmacy, laboratory work, university teaching, and public activity were often still held in the same hands. His memory has also survived in Latvia’s pharmaceutical tradition – a medal and the company “Grindeks” bear his name.