Frantià ¡ek à  orm (28 February 1913 â 18 November 1980) was a Czech chemist known for synthesis of natural compounds, mainly terpenes and biologically active components of plants. à  orm was the founder of the Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
à  orm studied at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Czech Technical University (later Institute of Chemical Technology, Và  CHT) absolving the studies in 1936. During the war à  orm worked in a chemical laboratory. After the war he returned to the university and in 1946 was named professor at the Và  CHT. In 1950 à  orm was named professor of organic chemistry at the Charles University in Prague.
In 1952 à  orm became the director of the Institute for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, part of the newly established Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and General Secretary of the Academy. From 1962 until 1969 he served as the second President of the Academy (after ZdenÃÂk Nejedlý).
Frantià ¡ek à  orm was a staunch communist and member of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In his role of a scientist and organizer, however, he considered only the professional capabilities of his coworkers, not their political stance. In 1968 he supported the reform politics of Prague Spring. After the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia (which he protested against), à  orm was removed from his administrative positions, was forbidden to attend conferences abroad and was, at age of 60, forced into early retirement. Later he lived in seclusion and died of a heart attack.
The institute à  orm founded now awards a medal named after the scientist. Asteroid 3993 à  orm, discovered by AntonÃÂn Mrkos, was named after him in 1988.
<blockquote>In the field of bioorgamic chemistry, he advanced knowledge of sesquiterpenoids, with medium-ring molecules, and explained the structure of different isoprenoid compounds. He also initiated the study of natural peptides, especially neurohypophyseal hormones and their analogues, some of which were shown to be of major clinical importance. His school of protein chemistry established the primary structure of chymotrypsin and trypsin. While studying the aminoacid sequence in polypeptide chains, Ã Â orm, for the first time, deduced a tentative genetic code. His studies of antimetabolites of nucleic acid constituents as potential cancerostatics or virostatics led to the synthesis and determination of the mechanism of several highly active compounds, for example, 5-azacytidine and 6-azauridine. Finally, he was active in the field of insect juvenile hormones.</blockquote>
à  orm was the author or co-author of a large number of scientific publications and patents and was highly cited. He also co-authored several chemistry textbooks. His wife Zora was head of the Department of Biochemistry within the institute.