 |
Hans HellmanGerman theoretical physicist.
Date of Birth: 14.10.1903
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Hans Hellmann: German Physicist and Soviet Emigrant
- Academic Career in Germany
- Emigration to the Soviet Union
Hans Hellmann: German Physicist and Soviet Emigrant
Early Life and EducationHans Hellmann was born in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in the province of Hanover. He initially studied electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart but switched to the engineering physics department after just one semester. Hellmann also studied at Kiel University and received his doctorate from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin under the supervision of Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner. His habilitation, which qualified him for a permanent professorship, was again completed at the University of Stuttgart under the guidance of Professor Erich Regener. It was through Regener that he met his future wife, Victoria Berstein, a woman of Jewish descent.
Academic Career in Germany
In 1929, Hellmann became a Privatdozent (unpaid lecturer) at the University of Hanover. The same year, his son Hans Hellmann Jr. was born. In 1933, Hellmann completed his habilitation, which opened the way to a permanent professorship. However, after the Nazis came to power, Hellmann was deemed politically unreliable and was dismissed on December 24, 1933. The primary reason for his dismissal was his wife's Jewish background.
Emigration to the Soviet Union
Despite receiving offers from the United States and the Soviet Union, Hellmann chose to emigrate to the latter. His decision was motivated by his socialist sympathies and his wife's Ukrainian heritage. In 1933, Hellmann and his family immigrated to the Soviet Union, where he secured a position at the Karpov Physicochemical Institute in Moscow.
