Eva von Bahr (physicist)
Eva von Bahr | |
---|---|
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Born | 16 September 1874 |
Died | 28 February 1962 Stockholm, Sweden | (aged 87)
Citizenship | Sweden |
Alma mater | Uppsala University |
Known for | First Swedish female docent in physics |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics |
Institutions | Uppsala University Brunnsviks folkhögskola |
Academic advisors | Carl Wilhelm Oseen Lise Meitner |
Notes | |
She was a close friend of Lise Meitner. |
Eva Wilhelmina Julia von Bahr-Bergius, (16 September 1874 – 28 February 1962) was a Swedish
Biography
Background
Eva von Bahr's parents were häradshövding (district judge) Carl von Bahr (1830–1900) and his wife Elisabeth Boström (1838–1914). She was the sister of Johan von Bahr, mayor of
Academic career
Despite her family's wishes she wanted an education and studied for a year at the Askov folk high school in
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Hahn_Meitner_1912.jpg/220px-Hahn_Meitner_1912.jpg)
Starting in 1909 she worked as a docent at the Physics department in Uppsala with the support of professor
After her visit to Berlin, von Bahr exchanged letters with Meitner; she also had close contact with the mathematician and theoretical physicist Carl Wilhelm Oseen in Uppsala.[3] In January 1913, von Bahr again travelled to Berlin, where she worked under professor Heinrich Rubens.[3] During her time there, von Bahr conducted experiments that supported Max Planck's theories, which made her the only Swedish physicist to be mentioned by Niels Bohr during his Nobel lecture in 1922.[4] During that spring, von Bahr was invited to work with James Franck and Gustav Hertz, and joined their group that autumn.[5]
Return to Sweden
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Brunnsviks_folkh%C3%B6gskola_1930-tal.jpg/220px-Brunnsviks_folkh%C3%B6gskola_1930-tal.jpg)
At the beginning of January 1914, von Bahr had to cut short her time in Berlin to care for her ill mother.
After the end of World War I, Lise Meitner visited von Bahr in Sweden and stayed in her home for four weeks.[8] In the winter of 1919–1920, von Bahr traveled to London, Pau, Algiers, Tunis, and Italy.[8]
After some years, she moved to Kungälv in order to be closer to the Catholic congregation in Gothenburg.[9] When Lise Meitner's situation in Germany became dangerous during the summer of 1938 von Bahr, together with Wilhelm Oseen and Niels Bohr, was very active in helping her to escape and to arrange for her stay in Sweden and a research position.[10][11]
While in Sweden in December 1938, Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch managed to theorize nuclear fission.[12]
After the outbreak of World War II and the German occupation of Norway, von Bahr was active in the Swedish humanitarian organization Svenska Norgehjälpen (Swedish Support of Norway).[13]
Eva von Bahr was also a philanthropist, and for some time she supported among others Lise Meitner[2] and the poet Dan Andersson.[14] She also contributed funds to Brunnsviks Folkhögskola and donated the house in Kungälv that she had built.[15] After her husband's death in 1947 von Bahr moved to Uppsala.[16] During her time in Uppsala she was interested in the Jesuit priest and writer Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and she kept contact and mail exchange with Lise Meitner.[17] Eva von Bahr died on 28 February 1962 and was buried at the Catholic cemetery in Stockholm.[18]
Works
- von Bahr, Eva (1910). "Ueber die Einwirkung des Druckes auf die Absorption ultraroter Strahlung durch Gase". Annalen der Physik. 338 (13): 585–597. .
- Om katolicismen: några ord till protestanter [About Catholicism: a few words to protestants] (in Swedish). OCLC 185680657.
- Bahr-Bergius, Eva von (1933). Min väg tillbaka till kristendomen [My way back to Christianity] (in Swedish). Almqvist & Wiksell. OCLC 185680110.
- Bahr, Eva von (1934). Efterskrift till Min väg tillbaka till kristendomen (in Swedish). Almqvist.
- "Ur "spridda minnen från ett långt liv"" [From "Some Reminiscences of a Long Life"]. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis: Skrifter rörande Uppsala universitet. Inbjudningar. B [Journal of the University of Uppsala: Writings concerning Uppsala University. Invitations. B]. 177. Uppsala University: 7–73. 2015.
Footnotes
- ^ a b Hedqvist 2012, pp. 46-53
- ^ a b c d Hedqvist 2012, pp. 54-64
- ^ a b Hedqvist 2012, pp. 65-75
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 76-88
- ^ a b Hedqvist 2012, pp. 89-94
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 133-149
- ^ a b c Hedqvist 2012, pp. 181-192
- ^ a b Hedqvist 2012, pp. 193-203
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, s. 235
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, s. 250-260
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 261-268
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 11-19
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 330-332
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 175-176
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, s. 164-165
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 387-388
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 399-400
- ^ Hedqvist 2012, pp. 404
References
- Eva V J Bergius i Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, Volume 3 (1922), p. 575
- Eva von Bahr-Bergius in Vem är vem, Götalandsdelen utom Skåne, 1948
- Dan Andersson: Hjärtats oro : Dan Anderssonss brev til Elsa Ouchterlony, Eva von Bahr og søsteren Anna Andersson, samlet og med kommentar av Gunde Johansson. Dan Andersson-sällskapets skrifter, Zindermans 1993.
- Maria Ekelund: Konsten att komma ut som katolik: En studie i rationaliseringen av den icke-rationella längtan efter Gud i Eva von Bahr-Bergius konversionsberättelse. Institutionen för idé- och lärdomshistoria, Uppsala universitet. C-uppsats, 2007.
- Hedvig Hedqvist, Kärlek och Kärnfysik, Albert Bonniers Forlag, Stockholm (2012). ISBN 978-9100-12538-7
- Gösta Larsson: Niklas Bergius, Eva von Bahr och Dan Andersson. Stockholm: vulkan, 2011.
- Birgitta Meurling: "En utdragen balansakt : kvinnliga forskares strategier inom akademin". Part of: Att se det osedda : vänbok till Ann-Sofie Ohlander. 2006, p. 159-180.
- Staffan Wennerholm: "I fysikforskningens utkant. Eva von Bahrs vetenskapliga gemenskaper 1909–1914", Lychnos, 2007, p. 7–41.
Further reading
External links
- Eva von Bahr, from Svensk biografisk handbok (Swedish)