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Hilde Levi (9 May 1909 – 26 July 2003) was a German-Danish
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 ...
. She was a pioneer of the use of radioactive isotopes in
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
and
medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
, notably the techniques of
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
and autoradiography. In later life she became a scientific historian, and published a biography of George de Hevesy. Born into a non-religious Jewish family in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany, Levi entered the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
in 1929. She carried out her doctoral studies at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem, writing her thesis on the spectra of alkali metal halides under the supervision of and
Fritz Haber Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...
. By the time she completed it in 1934, the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
had been elected to office in Germany, and Jews were no longer allowed to be hired for academic positions. She went to Denmark where she found a position at the Niels Bohr Institute of Theoretical Physics at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
. Working with James Franck and George de Hevesy, she published a number of papers on the use of radioactive substances in biology. When the Nazis began rounding up Danish Jews in September 1943, Levi fled to Sweden, where she worked for the biologist John Runnström at the Wenner-Gren Institute for Experimental Biology in Stockholm. After the war ended, she returned to Denmark to work at the Zoophysiological Laboratory in Copenhagen. She spent the 1947–48 academic year in the United States learning about the recently discovered techniques of radiocarbon dating and autoradiography, which she introduced to Europe. She retired from the Zoophysiological Laboratory in 1979, but became involved with the Niels Bohr Archive, where she collected papers of de Hevesy, eventually publishing his biography.


Early life

Hilde Levi was born in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany, on 9 May 1909, the daughter of Adolf Levi, the sales director of a metal company, and his wife Clara (née Reis), the daughter of a printer. Hilde had an older brother called Edwin. She was a gifted musician who learned to play the piano at a young age. During the summers, she would listen to performances at her cousins' summer house in Bavaria by musicians including Elisabeth Schumann and
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
. Although Jewish, Levi's family did not practise their religion, and were not part of the Jewish community, but when she was enrolled at the Victoria School (now the Bettina School) in Frankfurt, her religion was listed as Jewish. Religious instruction was compulsory, so she had to attend classes with a local
rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
. She soon rebelled against this, and told her parents that she did not wish to attend the classes. She came to reject formal religion. While at high school, Levi decided that she would become a scientist. Her final year was devoted to a physics project on spectra and photography, which became her ''Oberreal Abiturium''. She was the only girl in her class to major in physics that year. After her graduation in April 1928, her father sent her to England for six months to learn English. She entered the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
in 1929, where she listened to lectures by Arnold Sommerfeld. For her doctorate, she was accepted into the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at Berlin-Dahlem, where she wrote her thesis on the spectra of alkali metal halides, under the supervision of Peter Pringsheim and
Fritz Haber Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...
.


Nazi period

By the time Levi received her doctorate in 1934, the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
had been elected to office in Germany. Her supervisors had gone into exile, and Jews were no longer allowed to be hired for academic positions. The Danish branch of the International Federation of University Women helped Levi find a position at the Niels Bohr Institute of Theoretical Physics at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
in Denmark.
Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (, ; ; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and old quantum theory, quantum theory, for which he received the No ...
asked James Franck, another refugee from Germany, if he knew Levi, and would be willing to have Levi as his assistant. Franck replied that he did not know her personally, but he knew her thesis, and rated it highly. She became engaged to the physicist Hans Bethe in 1934. The two had known each other since 1925. However, his mother, although herself Jewish, was opposed to her son marrying a Jewish girl, and he broke off the engagement a few days before the wedding was to take place. Bethe's action shocked Franck and Bohr. Although an eminent physicist, Bethe would not be invited to visit the Niels Bohr Institute until after the Second World War. Levi never married, but became friends with many of the Jewish physicists who did visit the institute, including Otto Frisch, George Placzek, Rudolf Peierls, Leon Rosenfeld, Edward Teller and Victor Weisskopf. Levi worked as Franck's assistant, publishing two papers with him on the
fluorescence Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with colore ...
of
chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...
, until he left Denmark for the United States in 1935. She then became assistant to the Hungarian physical chemist George de Hevesy. The recent discovery of induced radioactivity and the consequent creation of short-lived radioactive isotopes opened up a number of new uses for radioactive substances in biology which she explored with de Hevesy, publishing a number of papers with him. The University of Berlin cancelled Levi's doctorate in 1938. In April 1940, the Germans occupied Denmark. When the Nazis began rounding up Danish Jews in September 1943, Levi was one of the thousands of Jews who fled to Sweden. For the rest of the war she worked for the biologist John Runnström at the Wenner-Gren Institute for Experimental Biology in Stockholm.


Later life

When the war ended, de Hevesy elected to stay in Sweden, and Bohr decided to drop biological research at the institute and return to concentrating on physics. Levi accepted a position at the Zoophysiological Laboratory in Copenhagen, under August Krogh, who, like Bohr, had won a
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
. She spent the 1947–48 academic year in the United States as a Fellow of the
American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...
. While there, she learned from Willard Libby at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
about his recently discovered technique of
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
. She developed the new technique of autoradiography while working for the
United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by the U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President Harry ...
at the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
. On returning to Denmark, she worked with the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen to develop radiocarbon dating equipment. This was put to the test in 1951, dating the Grauballe Man. Autoradiography was then used by the Finsen Institute to investigate the effects of the
radiocontrast agent Radiocontrast agents are substances used to enhance the visibility of internal structures in X-ray-based imaging techniques such as computed tomography (contrast CT), projectional radiography, and fluoroscopy. Radiocontrast agents are typically iod ...
thorotrast. Levi was a consultant at the Danish National Board of Health from 1952 to 1970. Levi retired from the Zoophysiological Laboratory in 1979, but became involved with the Niels Bohr Archive, where she collected papers from de Hevesy. The result of this work was a biography of Hevesy, which was published in 1985. That year she organised the Niels Bohr Centennial Exhibition at the Copenhagen Town Hall. In 2001 she was honoured by Humboldt University of Berlin, along with other students who had been dismissed in 1933. She died in Copenhagen on 26 July 2003.


Notes


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levi, Hilde 1909 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Danish physicists 20th-century German physicists 20th-century Danish women scientists Danish women academics Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Denmark German women academics German women physicists Jewish Danish scientists Jewish German physicists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Scientists from Frankfurt Scientists from Copenhagen Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen 20th-century German women scientists