WrocƂaw, believe it or not, had a total of eleven (eleven!) native-born Nobel laureates in the 20th century, beginning with Thomas Mommsen’s prize for literature in 1902 and spanning Richard Selten’s 1992 prize for his work in game theory. While all of WrocƂaw's Nobel nerds are arguably worthy of in-depth investigation, perhaps none of their stories are as sensational, complex and significant as that of German chemist Fritz Haber (1868-1934), one of the most important scientists in human history.

A copy of Haber's Nobel Prize, on display at the WrocƂaw University Museum.
 

Early Life & Career

Young Fritzy at a frisky 22 years old.
Our drama begins in Prussian Breslau (yes, that would be Polish WrocƂaw today), with the birth of our momentary hero on December 9th, 1898, and the subsequent death of his mother due to complications from the birth just three weeks later. Fritz’s father, a prosperous Jewish chemical merchant, now a widower, shipped Fritzy off into the care of various aunties, not knowing what else to do with the little creature. When Fritz was 6 years old, his father remarried and proceeded to have three daughters with his second wife; though Fritz had a loving relationship with his step-mother and half-sisters, his relations with his father were distant, strained and would always be overshadowed by the tragic death of his mother.
 
Clara staring down the patriarchy
during her studies at University of Breslau.

Passing his high school exams in Breslau/WrocƂaw, Fritz began an apprenticeship at his father's company, swiftly became intrigued by the consequences of combining various chemicals, and soon left to study chemistry in Berlin, then Heidelberg, then back to Berlin, where he earned his PhD. Using his father's connections, he flitted between apprenticeships and the family business, but clashed too often with his father to sustain the latter, eventually taking teaching positions at the University of Jena (where it should be noted he converted to Protestantism) and finally a full professorship at the University of Karlsruhe. It was in Karlsruhe that Haber's name began to receive recognition, and then renown, as he collaborated with other top German minds and authored several books based on his research of dyes and textiles, electrochemistry, chemical thermodynamics, free radicals and other concepts we won't feign to comprehend.