Hans Thirring
| Born: |
03-23-1888 |
| Faculty: |
Philosophical School |
| Category: |
Expelled teacher |
Hans THIRRING, born March 23rd, 1888 in Vienna, deceased March 22nd, 1978 in Vienna, was a tenured professor of physics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Vienna.
He was persecuted for political reasons under the national-socialist regime, divested of his office and banned from the University of Vienna (sent into forced retirement).
He returned to the University of Vienna in 1945.
He studied mathematics and physics at the university of Vienna (acquired his Ph. D. in 1911; as early as 1910, he became assistant professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics); he was promoted to associate professor in 1915; in 1921, he became untenured professor of theoretical physics at the University of Vienna and president of the Institute for Theoretical Physics (till 1938); from 1927 onwards, he held a full professorship in theoretical physics. In the same year his son - later also physicist - Walter Thirring (1927-2014) was born.
Hans Thirring reached international notoriety due to his book "The Idea of the Theory of Relativity" (
Lense-Thirring precession). His validation of Einstein’s theory of relativity and the pacifist views he held were only two of the reasons the national-socialists sent him into compulsory retirement in 1938.
He spent the national-socialist period working as a scientific consultant first for Elin AG in Vienna, subsequently for Siemens and Halske.
He was reinstated as a professor in 1945 and held his tenure till 1958 (1947/48 and 1948/49 he was vice-dean of the Faculty of Philosophy). He served as a member in the Austrian Parliament (SPOE [Austrian Socialist Party, currently Austrian Social-Democratic Party]) between 1957 and 1964. He was actively involved in the peace movement and helped raise awareness of the perils of nuclear warfare ("History of the Atom Bomb" [original title: "Geschichte der Atombombe"], 1946, "Homo sapiens", 2 volumes, 1947-49).
Lit.: ANGETTER/MARTISCHNIG 2005, 144-145; DEICHMANN 2001, 183; MÜHLBERGER 1993, 48; STADLER 2004 [1988] 1065-1074; ZIMMEL/KERBER 1992; dasrotewien.at, WIKIPEDIA.
Katharina Kniefacz
