Peter George Oliver Freund

September 9, 1936, Timisoara - March 6, 2018, Chicago

Physicist. Essayist and writer

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Peter Freund

He was born in Timişoara, in a wealthy family, with ancestors from the beginning of the 19th century, buried in the Jewish cemetery. Her father, Joseph, was a doctor, and her mother, Rozsi, whose family owned a large textile store, was an opera singer. The family lived in the city center, in the Färber Palace, between the Llyod Palace and the Merbl Palace. Joseph Freund was the owner and director of a Sanatorium, known as the Freund Sanatorium, where during the war years the Jews in the city were cared for. One of the anti-Jewish measures forbade Jews from being treated by non-Jewish doctors, and Jewish doctors were not allowed to treat sick non-Jews. The hospital building was CNR-ized, ie expropriated. Many members of the family were killed at Auschwitz, and an uncle, Paul, was deported to Transnistria, to Vapnyarka. Another uncle, Emeric (Imre) Freund, was a polo player at the I.L.S.A. and became the swimming coach of the Romanian national team.

After studying at the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Peter Freund emigrated in 1959 from Romania and settled for several years in Vienna, where he obtained in 1960 a doctorate in theoretical physics from the famous physicist Walter Thirring at the University of Vienna. Since 1965 he has been at the University of Chicago. He was Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics, Enrico Fermi Institute.

His wife, Lucy, worked as a psychologist. They had two daughters together (Pauline, a lawyer, and Caroline, an economist) and 5 grandchildren.

Research field

He had particularly important contributions in theoretical physics, particle physics and string theory, in the theory of magnetic monopolies, in supersymmetries and supergravity. (see website University of Chicago, Department of Physics http://physics.uchicago.edu/research/areas/particle_t.html )

Literary writings

Along with his research work and publications in specialized journals, he has published novellas, short stories and essays in recent years. Dialog Across the Atlantic (2006), the conversation between Peter Freund and former classmate Radu Ciobanu, who remained in Romania, writer and literary critic, covers various topics: Communist Romania, about art, literature, music and science, terrorism and anti-Americanism, among others. Tales in a Minor Key (2012) evokes a gloomy world in Timisoara from the second half of the twentieth century. A Passion for Discovery (2007) is a fascinating book about the world of scientists, with portraits of the most distinguished physicists and mathematicians of the last century, with stories and anecdotes.

Awards

Publications

Literary publications and reviews

Sources