František Záviška (November 18, 1879 – April 17, 1945) was a Czechslovak
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
. The major asset of his scientific work is integrated in nine studies on waveguides published between the years 1912 and 1939. They evaluated, on the basis of the
Maxwell equations
Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits.
T ...
, the effect of
radiation by
electromagnetic wave
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visib ...
s in space using
conductible and non-conductible cylinders, tubes and their combinations, organized in different ways. The results of Záviška's experiments were groundbreaking, but they were published in Czech journals only and never became known abroad.
In January 1944, the Nazi
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
arrested him on suspicion of resistance activities. He was imprisoned first in Prague and Brno, and later in the concentration camps of
Mauthausen
Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regu ...
and Osterode
( de). He died April 17, 1945, as a result of exhaustion during a
death march
A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...
from the concentration camp.
neviditelnypes.lidovky.cz
(in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaviska, Frantisek
Czechoslovak physicists
Physicists from Austria-Hungary
1879 births
1945 deaths
Mauthausen concentration camp survivors