IUCr Publications

Extract from 50 Years of X-ray Diffraction, edited by P. P. Ewald

[pdf icon]Memorial Tablets*


* The author (P.P.E.) is particularly aware of the incompleteness of this section and  would be grateful for being sent additional data.

Gregori Aminoff 1883-1947

  • Born 8 Feb. 1883 in Stockholm; died 11 Feb. 1947 in Stockholm.
  • 1905 First academic degree, U. of Uppsala, after studying science in Stockholm.
  • 1905 to about 1913 studied painting in France and Italy.
  • 1913 Returned to science.
  • 1918 Ph.D.; appointed Lecturer in Mineralogy and Crystallography U. of Stockholm. Thesis: Calcite and Barytes from  Långbanshyttan (Sweden).
  • 1923-47 Professor and Head of the Department of Mineralogy of the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.
  • 1930 Married Birgit Broomé, herself a crystallographer. see Nature (London) 1947, 159, 597 (G. Hägg).

Dirk Coster 1889-1950

  • Born 5 Oct. 1889 in Amsterdam; died 12 Feb. 1950 in Groningen. Studied in Leiden, Delft, Lund (with Siegbahn) and Copenhagen (with Bohr).
  • 1922 Dr.-ing. Tech. University of Delft. Thesis: X-ray Spectra and the Atomic Theory of Bohr.
  • 1923 Assistant of H. A. Lorentz, Teyler Stichting in Haarlem.
  • 1924-50 Prof. of Physics and Meteorology, U. of Groningen.

Bergen Davis 1869-1951

  • Born 31 March 1869 in White House, New Jersey; died 1951 in New York.
  • 1896 B.Sc. Rutgers University.
  • 1900 A.M. Columbia University (New York). 
  • 1901 Ph.D. Columbia University.
  • 1901-02 Postgraduate work in Göttingen.
  • 1902-03 Postgraduate work in Cambridge.
  • 1903 Instructor Columbia University, New York.
  • 1910 Assistant Professor Columbia University, New York.
  • 1914 Associate Professor Columbia University, New York.
  • 1918 Professor of Physics Columbia University, New York. Work on ionization, radiation, electron impact, physics of X-rays, X-ray spectroscopy with first two-crystal  spectrometer.

Clinton J. Davisson 1881-1958

  • Born 22 October 1881 in Bloomington, Ill.; died 1 February 1958 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
  • Educated: Bloomington public schools; scholarship for U. of Chicago for proficiency in mathematics and physics.
  • 1908 B.Sc. U. of Chicago.
  • 1911 Ph.D. Princeton University.
  • 1911-17 Instructor in Physics, Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh.
  • 1917 War-time employment with Western Electric Co., engineering department, which later became Bell Telephone Labs.
  • 1919-29 Studied thermionics, thermal radiation and electron scattering (first with C. M. Kunsman, later with L. H.  Germer) .
  • 1927 Electron diffraction by nickel crystal observed.
  • 1928 Comstock Prize of National Academy of Sciences.
  • 1931 Elliott Cresson Medal of Franklin Institute.
  • 1935 Hughes Medal of Royal Society.
  • 1937 Nobel Prize (shared with G. P. Thomson).
  • 1930-37 Electron Optics, especially of very slow electrons.
  • 1946 Retired from Bell Telephone Labs.
  • 1947-49 Visiting Professor U. of Virginia, Charlottesville. see Science 1945, 102, 216.

Rosalind E. Franklin 1920-1958

  • Born 25 July 1920 in London; died 16 April 1958 in London.
  • 1938-41 Cambridge Univ. (Chem., Phys., Miner., Math.)
  • 1945 Ph.D. Cambridge. Thesis: Physical Structure of Coal and related Materials. Supervisor Dr. D. H. Bangham.
  • 1942-46 Employed by Brit. Coal Utilisation Res. Ass.
  • 1947-51 Worked at Lab. central des services chimiques de l'Etat in Paris; diffraction studies of coal and carbons.
  • 1951-53  Introduced X-ray diffraction at King's College, London; work on DNA.
  • 1953-58 Birkbeck College, London. Directed research on plant viruses by X-ray diffraction until her death from cancer. Papers in Acta Cryst. 1950, '51, '58 and Nature 1953 (172)  and 1956 (177).

Hermanus Haga 1852-1936

  • Born 24 Jan. 1852 in Oldeboorn (Netherlands) ; died 11 Sept. 1936 in Zeist.
  • 1871-76 Studied mathematics and physics at Leiden U.
  • 1876 Ph.D. U. of Leiden. Thesis: Absorption of radiant heat by water vapour.
  • 1886-1922 Professor of Physics, U. of Groningen.
  • 1907 Diffraction of X-rays by slit (with C. H. Wind). 
  • 1914-16 The symmetry of Laue diagrams (with F. M. Jaeger).

Frans Maurits Jaeger 1877-1945

  • Born 11 May 1877 in 's-Gravenhage; died 2 March 1945 in Groningen.
  • 1895-1900 Studied Chemistry in Leiden.
  • 1900-02 Post-graduate work in Berlin.
  • 1903 Ph.D. U. of Amsterdam. Thesis: Crystalline and molecular symmetry of position-isomeric benzene derivatives.
  • 1904-07 Reader in Chemistry, U. of Amsterdam.
  • 1909-42 Professor of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, U. of Groningen.
  • 1917 Book: Lectures on the Principle of Symmetry and its Applications in all Natural Sciences.
  • 1919 Historical Studies.
  • 1924 Introduction to the Study of Crystals.
  • 1930 Methods, Results, and Problems of Precise Measurement at High Temperatures (George Fisher Baker Lectures).

Willem Hendrik Keesom 1876-1956

  • Born 21 June 1876 in Texel; died 4 March 1956 in Leiden.
  • 1904 Ph.D. U. of Amsterdam. Thesis: Isotherms of mixtures of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
  • 1900-09 Assistant, Physical Laboratory, Leiden.
  • 1909-17 Conservator Physical Laboratory, Leiden.
  • 1918-23 Prof. of Physics, Veterinary College, Utrecht.
  • 1923-46 Prof. of Physics, U. of Leiden.
  • 1924 X-ray structure analysis of solid CO2, N2O. 
  • 1926 Same for O2, N2, A and for ordinary and superconducting lead. 
  • see Nature (London) 1956, 177, 825 (Van Itterbeek).

Nicolaas Hendrik Kolkmeijer 1875-1950

  • Born 26 July 1875 in Amsterdam; died 15 June 1950 in Hilversum.
  • 1915 Ph.D. U. of Amsterdam. Thesis: Elimination of the concepts of axial system, length and time from the equations for the planetary movement.
  • 1915-40 Assistant, Physical Laboratory, U. of Amsterdam; Conservator, Veterinary College and Van 't Hoff Laboratory, Utrecht.
  • 1920-21 Papers on time-space symmetry.
  • 1928 Book: Röntgenanalyse van Kristallen (together with J. M. Bijvoet and A. Karssen).
  • 1932 Co-author, Internat. Tabellen zur Bestimmung von Kristallstrukturen.

Walter Kossel 1888-1956

  • Born 4 January 1888 in Berlin; died 22 May 1956 in Tübingen.
  • 1911 Ph.D. Heidelberg, in Physics (with Lenard).
  • 1918-21 Privatdozent with Sommerfeld in Munich.
  • 1921-31 Prof. Theoret. Physics, U. of Kiel.
  • 1932-45 Prof. Theoret. Physics, T. H. Danzig.
  • 1947-56 Prof. of Physics, U. of Tübingen.
  • see Naturwiss. 1957, 44, 293.

Sir Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan 1898-1961

  • Born: 3 December 1898; died 14 June 1961 in New Delhi.
  • Educated: Christian Coll., Madras; U. Coll. of Science, Calcutta.
  • 1923-28 Res. Asst. Ind. Assoc. for the Cultiv. of Science, Calcutta.
  • 1929-33 Reader in Physics, U. of Dacca.
  • 1933-42 Mahendral Sircar Prof. of Physics, Calcutta.
  • 1942-47 Prof. of Physics and Head of Dept., U. of Allahabad. 
  • 1947-61 Director, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.

Alexander Müller 1889-1947

  • Born 29 April 1889 in Zürich; died 2 July 1947 in Essex (England).
  • 1908 Leaves Industrieschule, Zürich.
  • 1908-15 Studies Physics at the University of Zürich.
  • 1915 Ph.D. Zürich. Thesis: Messungen der thermischen Ausdehnung von kristallisiertem Quarz und von Gold zwischen 18° und 540°C. (Supervisor Prof. A. Kleiner).
  • 1915-18(?) University of Göttingen. 
  • 1918(?)-22 University of Cambridge (with G. I. Taylor).
  • 1922 Research Assistant to Prof. W. H. Bragg, first at University College, London, then at Royal Institution.
  • 1928 Assistant Director Davy-Faraday Lab. at the R.I.
  • 1946 Deputy Director Davy-Faraday Lab. at the R.I.
  • 1923 Fatty acids, paraffins.
  • 1927-31 Rotating target X-ray generator.
  • 1936-40 Physical properties of long-chain compounds. 
  • see Nature (London) 1947, 160, 323 (K. Lonsdale).

Paul Niggli 1888-1953

  • Born 26 January 1888 in Zofingen, Switzerland; died 13 January 1953 in Zürich.
  • 1907-11 Student of geology and petrography at the Fed. Polyt. School.
  • 1912 Ph.D. U. of Zürich. Thesis: Die Chloritoidschiefer des nordöstlichen Gotthardmassives.
  • 1913 Post-graduate work at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington.
  • 1915 Assistant Prof. of Mineralogy, U. of Leipzig (with F. Rinne).
  • 1918-20 Prof. of Mineralogy, U. of Tübingen.
  • 1920-53 Prof. of Mineralogy at the University of Zürich and the Federal Polytechnic School.
  • 1921-39 Editor of Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, Vol. 56-101.
  • 1919 Geometrische Kristallographie des Diskontinuums
  • see Experientia (Basel) 1953, 9, 197-203 (F. Laves); Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Monatshefte 1953, pg. 51-67 (H. O'Daniel, K. H. Scheumann, H. Schneiderhöhn)  Acta Cryst. 1953, 6, 225 (P. P. Ewald); Schweiz. Min. Petr. Mitt. 1953, 33, 1-9 (F. de Quervain, and  bibliography.); Nature 1953, 171, 675 (W. Campbell-Smith); Zs. f. angew. Math. Phys. 1953, 4, 415-418 (E. Brandenberger).


First published for the International Union of Crystallography 1962 by N.V.A. Oosthoek's Uitgeversmaatschappij, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Digitised 1999 for the IUCr XVIII Congress, Glasgow, Scotland
© 1962, 1999 International Union of Crystallography

Extract from 50 Years of X-ray Diffraction, edited by P. P. Ewald

[pdf icon]Memorial Tablets*


* The author (P.P.E.) is particularly aware of the incompleteness of this section and  would be grateful for being sent additional data.

Gregori Aminoff 1883-1947

  • Born 8 Feb. 1883 in Stockholm; died 11 Feb. 1947 in Stockholm.
  • 1905 First academic degree, U. of Uppsala, after studying science in Stockholm.
  • 1905 to about 1913 studied painting in France and Italy.
  • 1913 Returned to science.
  • 1918 Ph.D.; appointed Lecturer in Mineralogy and Crystallography U. of Stockholm. Thesis: Calcite and Barytes from  Långbanshyttan (Sweden).
  • 1923-47 Professor and Head of the Department of Mineralogy of the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.
  • 1930 Married Birgit Broomé, herself a crystallographer. see Nature (London) 1947, 159, 597 (G. Hägg).

Dirk Coster 1889-1950

  • Born 5 Oct. 1889 in Amsterdam; died 12 Feb. 1950 in Groningen. Studied in Leiden, Delft, Lund (with Siegbahn) and Copenhagen (with Bohr).
  • 1922 Dr.-ing. Tech. University of Delft. Thesis: X-ray Spectra and the Atomic Theory of Bohr.
  • 1923 Assistant of H. A. Lorentz, Teyler Stichting in Haarlem.
  • 1924-50 Prof. of Physics and Meteorology, U. of Groningen.

Bergen Davis 1869-1951

  • Born 31 March 1869 in White House, New Jersey; died 1951 in New York.
  • 1896 B.Sc. Rutgers University.
  • 1900 A.M. Columbia University (New York). 
  • 1901 Ph.D. Columbia University.
  • 1901-02 Postgraduate work in Göttingen.
  • 1902-03 Postgraduate work in Cambridge.
  • 1903 Instructor Columbia University, New York.
  • 1910 Assistant Professor Columbia University, New York.
  • 1914 Associate Professor Columbia University, New York.
  • 1918 Professor of Physics Columbia University, New York. Work on ionization, radiation, electron impact, physics of X-rays, X-ray spectroscopy with first two-crystal  spectrometer.

Clinton J. Davisson 1881-1958

  • Born 22 October 1881 in Bloomington, Ill.; died 1 February 1958 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
  • Educated: Bloomington public schools; scholarship for U. of Chicago for proficiency in mathematics and physics.
  • 1908 B.Sc. U. of Chicago.
  • 1911 Ph.D. Princeton University.
  • 1911-17 Instructor in Physics, Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh.
  • 1917 War-time employment with Western Electric Co., engineering department, which later became Bell Telephone Labs.
  • 1919-29 Studied thermionics, thermal radiation and electron scattering (first with C. M. Kunsman, later with L. H.  Germer) .
  • 1927 Electron diffraction by nickel crystal observed.
  • 1928 Comstock Prize of National Academy of Sciences.
  • 1931 Elliott Cresson Medal of Franklin Institute.
  • 1935 Hughes Medal of Royal Society.
  • 1937 Nobel Prize (shared with G. P. Thomson).
  • 1930-37 Electron Optics, especially of very slow electrons.
  • 1946 Retired from Bell Telephone Labs.
  • 1947-49 Visiting Professor U. of Virginia, Charlottesville. see Science 1945, 102, 216.

Rosalind E. Franklin 1920-1958

  • Born 25 July 1920 in London; died 16 April 1958 in London.
  • 1938-41 Cambridge Univ. (Chem., Phys., Miner., Math.)
  • 1945 Ph.D. Cambridge. Thesis: Physical Structure of Coal and related Materials. Supervisor Dr. D. H. Bangham.
  • 1942-46 Employed by Brit. Coal Utilisation Res. Ass.
  • 1947-51 Worked at Lab. central des services chimiques de l'Etat in Paris; diffraction studies of coal and carbons.
  • 1951-53  Introduced X-ray diffraction at King's College, London; work on DNA.
  • 1953-58 Birkbeck College, London. Directed research on plant viruses by X-ray diffraction until her death from cancer. Papers in Acta Cryst. 1950, '51, '58 and Nature 1953 (172)  and 1956 (177).

Hermanus Haga 1852-1936

  • Born 24 Jan. 1852 in Oldeboorn (Netherlands) ; died 11 Sept. 1936 in Zeist.
  • 1871-76 Studied mathematics and physics at Leiden U.
  • 1876 Ph.D. U. of Leiden. Thesis: Absorption of radiant heat by water vapour.
  • 1886-1922 Professor of Physics, U. of Groningen.
  • 1907 Diffraction of X-rays by slit (with C. H. Wind). 
  • 1914-16 The symmetry of Laue diagrams (with F. M. Jaeger).

Frans Maurits Jaeger 1877-1945

  • Born 11 May 1877 in 's-Gravenhage; died 2 March 1945 in Groningen.
  • 1895-1900 Studied Chemistry in Leiden.
  • 1900-02 Post-graduate work in Berlin.
  • 1903 Ph.D. U. of Amsterdam. Thesis: Crystalline and molecular symmetry of position-isomeric benzene derivatives.
  • 1904-07 Reader in Chemistry, U. of Amsterdam.
  • 1909-42 Professor of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, U. of Groningen.
  • 1917 Book: Lectures on the Principle of Symmetry and its Applications in all Natural Sciences.
  • 1919 Historical Studies.
  • 1924 Introduction to the Study of Crystals.
  • 1930 Methods, Results, and Problems of Precise Measurement at High Temperatures (George Fisher Baker Lectures).

Willem Hendrik Keesom 1876-1956

  • Born 21 June 1876 in Texel; died 4 March 1956 in Leiden.
  • 1904 Ph.D. U. of Amsterdam. Thesis: Isotherms of mixtures of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
  • 1900-09 Assistant, Physical Laboratory, Leiden.
  • 1909-17 Conservator Physical Laboratory, Leiden.
  • 1918-23 Prof. of Physics, Veterinary College, Utrecht.
  • 1923-46 Prof. of Physics, U. of Leiden.
  • 1924 X-ray structure analysis of solid CO2, N2O. 
  • 1926 Same for O2, N2, A and for ordinary and superconducting lead. 
  • see Nature (London) 1956, 177, 825 (Van Itterbeek).

Nicolaas Hendrik Kolkmeijer 1875-1950

  • Born 26 July 1875 in Amsterdam; died 15 June 1950 in Hilversum.
  • 1915 Ph.D. U. of Amsterdam. Thesis: Elimination of the concepts of axial system, length and time from the equations for the planetary movement.
  • 1915-40 Assistant, Physical Laboratory, U. of Amsterdam; Conservator, Veterinary College and Van 't Hoff Laboratory, Utrecht.
  • 1920-21 Papers on time-space symmetry.
  • 1928 Book: Röntgenanalyse van Kristallen (together with J. M. Bijvoet and A. Karssen).
  • 1932 Co-author, Internat. Tabellen zur Bestimmung von Kristallstrukturen.

Walter Kossel 1888-1956

  • Born 4 January 1888 in Berlin; died 22 May 1956 in Tübingen.
  • 1911 Ph.D. Heidelberg, in Physics (with Lenard).
  • 1918-21 Privatdozent with Sommerfeld in Munich.
  • 1921-31 Prof. Theoret. Physics, U. of Kiel.
  • 1932-45 Prof. Theoret. Physics, T. H. Danzig.
  • 1947-56 Prof. of Physics, U. of Tübingen.
  • see Naturwiss. 1957, 44, 293.

Sir Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan 1898-1961

  • Born: 3 December 1898; died 14 June 1961 in New Delhi.
  • Educated: Christian Coll., Madras; U. Coll. of Science, Calcutta.
  • 1923-28 Res. Asst. Ind. Assoc. for the Cultiv. of Science, Calcutta.
  • 1929-33 Reader in Physics, U. of Dacca.
  • 1933-42 Mahendral Sircar Prof. of Physics, Calcutta.
  • 1942-47 Prof. of Physics and Head of Dept., U. of Allahabad. 
  • 1947-61 Director, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.

Alexander Müller 1889-1947

  • Born 29 April 1889 in Zürich; died 2 July 1947 in Essex (England).
  • 1908 Leaves Industrieschule, Zürich.
  • 1908-15 Studies Physics at the University of Zürich.
  • 1915 Ph.D. Zürich. Thesis: Messungen der thermischen Ausdehnung von kristallisiertem Quarz und von Gold zwischen 18° und 540°C. (Supervisor Prof. A. Kleiner).
  • 1915-18(?) University of Göttingen. 
  • 1918(?)-22 University of Cambridge (with G. I. Taylor).
  • 1922 Research Assistant to Prof. W. H. Bragg, first at University College, London, then at Royal Institution.
  • 1928 Assistant Director Davy-Faraday Lab. at the R.I.
  • 1946 Deputy Director Davy-Faraday Lab. at the R.I.
  • 1923 Fatty acids, paraffins.
  • 1927-31 Rotating target X-ray generator.
  • 1936-40 Physical properties of long-chain compounds. 
  • see Nature (London) 1947, 160, 323 (K. Lonsdale).

Paul Niggli 1888-1953

  • Born 26 January 1888 in Zofingen, Switzerland; died 13 January 1953 in Zürich.
  • 1907-11 Student of geology and petrography at the Fed. Polyt. School.
  • 1912 Ph.D. U. of Zürich. Thesis: Die Chloritoidschiefer des nordöstlichen Gotthardmassives.
  • 1913 Post-graduate work at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington.
  • 1915 Assistant Prof. of Mineralogy, U. of Leipzig (with F. Rinne).
  • 1918-20 Prof. of Mineralogy, U. of Tübingen.
  • 1920-53 Prof. of Mineralogy at the University of Zürich and the Federal Polytechnic School.
  • 1921-39 Editor of Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, Vol. 56-101.
  • 1919 Geometrische Kristallographie des Diskontinuums
  • see Experientia (Basel) 1953, 9, 197-203 (F. Laves); Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Monatshefte 1953, pg. 51-67 (H. O'Daniel, K. H. Scheumann, H. Schneiderhöhn)  Acta Cryst. 1953, 6, 225 (P. P. Ewald); Schweiz. Min. Petr. Mitt. 1953, 33, 1-9 (F. de Quervain, and  bibliography.); Nature 1953, 171, 675 (W. Campbell-Smith); Zs. f. angew. Math. Phys. 1953, 4, 415-418 (E. Brandenberger).


First published for the International Union of Crystallography 1962 by N.V.A. Oosthoek's Uitgeversmaatschappij, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Digitised 1999 for the IUCr XVIII Congress, Glasgow, Scotland
© 1962, 1999 International Union of Crystallography