Aharon Katzir (Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky) (September 15, 1914 – May 30, 1972) was an Israeli pioneer in the study of the

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

of biopolymers.

Biography

Born 1914 in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, Poland, he moved to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

in 1925, where he taught at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. There, he adopted his

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

surname ''Katzir''. He was a faculty member at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences, Rehovot, Israel as well as at the department of medical physics and biophysics at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

, California. He was murdered in a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

Ben Gurion International Airport Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...

in 1972 in which 26 people were killed and 80 injured. His younger brother,

Ephraim Katzir Ephraim Katzir ( he, אפרים קציר, translit=Efrayim Katsir; – 30 May 2009) was an Israeli biophysicist and Labor Party politician. He was the fourth President of Israel from 1973 until 1978. Biography Efraim Katchalski (later Katzir ...

, became the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1973.

Awards and commemoration

* In 1961, Katzir was awarded the Israel Prize, in life sciences, together with his pupil, Ora Kedem. * The State of Israel issued a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

in memory of Katzir. * The Katchalsky crater on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named after him. * A series of Hebrew lectures is held at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

in memory of Katzir, organized by his son Avrahm, a professor of physics. It is named: ''In the Crucible of the Revolution'' (BeKur HaMahapecha), alluding to a popular book Katzir wrote about scientific progress. It has featured lectures by

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureates Daniel Kahneman and

Aaron Ciechanover Aaron Ciechanover ( ; he, אהרן צ'חנובר; born October 1, 1947) is an Israeli biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for characterizing the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins using ubiquitin. Biography Earl ...

, and philosopher Hilary Putnam. * A center at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

is named after Katzir, as well as public schools in Tel Aviv and elsewhere.Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky Center
/ref> * A scholarship program of the Israeli Ministry of Defense is also named after him.

Textbooks

*Katchalsky, Aharon; Curran, Peter F. (1965). ''Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics in Biophysics.'' Harvard University Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katzir, Aharon 1914 births 1972 deaths 1972 murders in Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israel Prize in life sciences recipients who were biophysicists Israel Prize in life sciences recipients Israeli biophysicists Israeli chemists Jewish chemists Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Mass murder victims Presidents of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Polish Ashkenazi Jews Weizmann Institute of Science faculty People murdered in Israel Deaths by firearm in Israel Israeli murder victims Israeli terrorism victims

Biography

Awards and commemoration

Textbooks

See also

References