Heinz London, 1907-1970

Abstract

Heinz London was born in Bonn on 7 November 1907 into a well-to-do liberal German-Jewish family. His father, Franz London, was a professor of mathematics at the University of Bonn and his mother Luise, née Hamburger, was the daughter of a prosperous linen manufacturer The home was happy and peaceful but his father had a congenital heart ailment and died when Heinz was only 9 years old; during Heinzs childhood, his father had to rest a great deal when he was not working so for Heinz he was rather a remote though beloved and respected figure. The great influence in Heinz’s subsequent development was his brother Fritz who was seven years his senior, and the only other child. After their father's death Fritz took over to a large extent the guidance of his younger brother; this relationship started with advice and help with his studies and gradually developed into a close scientific collaboration, culminating in the famous London theory of superconductivity. Even after the brothers separated, with Fritz in the United States and Heinz in England, they continued to exchange ideas and remained very close to each other, though they met only occasionally.