Robert Havemann | |
|---|---|
 Havemann in 1960 | |
| Born | (1910-03-11)11 March 1910 |
| Died | 9 April 1982(1982-04-09) (aged 72) |
| Alma mater | Kaiser Wilhelm Institute |
| Spouse(s) | 1: Antje Hasenclever 1934 2. Karin von Trotha 1949 3:Annedore Grafe 1974 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
Robert Havemann (German:[ˈʁoːbɛʁtˈhaːvəˌman]ⓘ; 11 March 1910 – 9 April 1982) was an East Germanchemist anddissident.
| Righteous Among the Nations |
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| By country |
He studied chemistry inBerlin andMunich from 1929 to 1933, and then later received a doctorate in physical chemistry from theKaiser Wilhelm Institute.
Havemann joined theCommunist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1932 and was one of the founders of the resistance group,European Union. It was in connection with this group that he was arrested by theGestapo in 1943. He received adeath sentence for treason, but his execution was continually postponed because of the intervention of former colleagues, who insisted that Havemann was as important due to his work on chemical weapons and that he was still needed to explain the research. His execution was postponed so many times, he was able to survive until theBrandenburg-Görden Prison was liberated by theRed Army.[1][2]
After the war, he became head of administration in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in Berlin, but in 1948 he was dismissed from this position due to political pressure from the American authorities inWest Berlin. He continued his scientific work in the institute until he got barred from his laboratory in January 1950.
He then became a professor of physical chemistry at theHumboldt University of Berlin. He became a member of theVolkskammer in 1950 and won one of theGDR's national prizes in 1959. He published articles inSinn und Form criticizing modern socialism andrevisionist works of the Western authors.[3]
In 1963 he lectured on 'Scientific Aspects of Philosophical Problems' (published as 'Dialectic without Dogmatism—Natural Sciences against Communistic Ideology') and was expelled from theruling Socialist Unity Party and dismissed from the University—officially because he gave an interview to a newspaper from West Germany.
His sonFlorian Havemann (born 12 January 1952 inEast Berlin) fled toWest Germany in 1971.
Havemann was a victim of theStasi'sZersetzung psychological warfare program.
He continued his work as a socialist critic and was put underhouse arrest in 1976, at his home in the village ofGrünheide. This continued until his death in 1982, after a long time suffering from lung disease.
In 1989 he waspolitically rehabilitated by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany'sCentral Party Control Commission.
In 2005, Havemann was awarded the titleRighteous among the Nations by the IsraeliHolocaust memorial,Yad Vashem.[4]
