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Prof. Aharon Katzir
(1913 - 1972)
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Aharon Katchalsky-Katzir was born
in 1913 in
Lodz,
Poland. His
family emigrated to Jerusalem in 1922,
where he studied in the Hebrew Gymnasium. In 1932 Katzir-Katchalsky began his
studies at Hebrew
University
and published a book "Sons of the Sun", about butterflies in Israel.
After serving in the Haganah, he completed his Ph. D. in Chemistry Summa Cum
Laude.
In 1948 he was invited by Chaim
Weizmann to join the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot as head of the
Department of Polymer Research, and in 1952 became a professor of physical
chemistry at the Hebrew
University
in Jerusalem.
His areas of interest included the use of polyelectrolytes as models for
macromolecular substances in the living organism, membranes, and network
thermodynamics. Aharon Katzir was a pioneer in the study of the electrochemistry
of biopolymers. He received the Israel Prize in 1961 and was president of the
Israel Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1962-1968. His lectures and writings were very popular.
Professor Aharon Katzir was
killed on May 30, 1972,
by a Japanese terrorist at Ben-Gurion Airport.
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