Gerhard Herzberg

@Physicists, Facts and Personal Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Gerhard Herzberg was a Germany-born Canadian physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1971 Canadian German Scientists Physicists Chemists Physical Chemists Capricorn Celebrities Gerhard Herzberg was a Germany-born Canadian physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work in molecular spectroscopy in which he used the absorption of light by molecules and atoms to discover their geometrical patterns and electronic structures. He was born in Germany but fled from Germany when the Nazis came to power to avoid persecution because of his Jewish wife. His wife was a spectroscopist and collaborated with him during his early experiments. He was a brilliant scientist who sometimes designed his own spectroscopic methods to explain the structures of polyatomic and diatomic molecules, free radicals and astronomical objects which was difficult to obtain by any other method. Though he was a physicist, his work was of immense value to the field of physical chemistry and quantum mechanics as they dealt with the energy states and the internal geometry of molecules. He was the first Canadian to receive the Nobel Prize. Though he was asked to retire when he reached the age of sixty-five, he refused to do so, and was promoted to Professor Emeritus. He carried on with his research work for full-time as long he was fit and healthy till the time he died.

Personal Details

Birthday: December 25, 1904 Died on: March 3, 1999 Nationality: Canadian, German Famous: Scientists, Physicists, Chemists, Physical Chemists Spouses: Elisabeth Tenthoff, Luise Oettinger Siblings: Walter Known as: Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg Information Detail Birthday December 25, 1904 Died on March 3, 1999 Nationality Canadian, German Famous Scientists, Physicists, Chemists, Physical Chemists Spouses Elisabeth Tenthoff, Luise Oettinger Siblings Walter Known as Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg Childrens Agnes Margaret, Luise, Paul Albin Birth Place Hamburg, Imperial Germany Born Country Germany Gender Male Father Albin H. Herzberg Mother Ella Biber Herzberg Sun Sign Capricorn Born in Hamburg, Imperial Germany Famous as Physical Chemist, Physicist Died at Age 94

Hamburg, Imperial Germany

Gerhard Herzberg born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married Luise Oettinger, a Jew spectroscopist, on December 30, 1929. Unsplash Personal Life

He had had a son named Paul Albin and a daughter named Agnes Margaret from this marriage. Unsplash Personal Life

He married Monika Elisabeth Tenthoff on March 21, 1972 after his first wife died in 1971 a few months before he received the Nobel Prize. He had a daughter named Luise from this marriage. Unsplash Personal Life

Gerhard Herzberg was born in Hamburg, Germany, on December 25, 1904. His father was Albin H. Herzberg and his mother was Ella Biber Herzberg. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He had an elder brother named Walter. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

His early life was very difficult as his father died in 1915 and his mother had to immigrate to America in 1922 to work as a housekeeper there. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He attended the ‘Liebig Oberrealschule’ high school in Frankfurt from 1915 to 1916. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined the ‘Johanneum Realgymnasium’ high school in Hamburg in 1924 from where he obtained an ‘Abitur’ which was required for admission into a university. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Gerhard Herzberg returned to Germany and joined the ‘Darmstadt University of Technology’ as a ‘Privatdozent’ or lecturer in 1930 without getting any remuneration and worked there till 1935. Financial support came through fees from lectures and from the ‘Emergency Association of German Science’. Unsplash Career

In 1935 he left Germany and moved to Canada as the Nazi regime in Germany debarred people with Jewish wives from their Universities. Unsplash Career

He joined the ‘University of Saskatchewan, Canada’ in 1935 as a Research Professor of Physics and taught there till 1945. Unsplash Career

In 1941 he became the first scientist to prove that ‘themethylidyne ions (CH+)’ were present in the interstellar clouds or the gas occupying the space between two stars. Unsplash Career

In 1945 he joined the ‘Yerkes Observatory’ under the ‘University of Chicago’ as a professor of Spectroscopy and held that post till 1948. Unsplash Career

His book, ‘Atomic Spectra and Atomic Structure’ was published in 1937. Unsplash Major Works

His book ‘Spectra of Diatomic Molecules’ came out in 1939 while ‘Infrared and Raman Spectra of Polyatomic Molecules’ was published in 1945. Unsplash Major Works

His next book ‘Electronic Spectra of Polyatomic Molecules’ was published in 1966. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	December 25, 1904
Died on	March 3, 1999
Nationality	Canadian, German
Famous	Scientists, Physicists, Chemists, Physical Chemists
Spouses	Elisabeth Tenthoff, Luise Oettinger
Siblings	Walter
Known as	Gerhard Heinrich Friedrich Otto Julius Herzberg
Childrens	Agnes Margaret, Luise, Paul Albin
Birth Place	Hamburg, Imperial Germany
Born Country	Germany
Gender	Male
Father	Albin H. Herzberg
Mother	Ella Biber Herzberg
Sun Sign	Capricorn
Born in	Hamburg, Imperial Germany
Famous as	Physical Chemist, Physicist
Died at Age	94

Gerhard Herzberg

Canadian

Dec 25, 1904

Biography

Personal Details

Hamburg, Imperial Germany