Frederick Kurzer obituary

My friend Frederick Kurzer, who has died aged 95, was reader in chemistry at the Royal Free hospital school of medicine and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry for more than 70 years.The son of Jacques Kurzer, a dealer in oriental rugs, and his wife, Rosa (nee L öwy), Frederick was born in the spa town of Carlsbad (now Karlovy Vary) in the German-speaking area of what was then Czechoslovakia. With one sister, Dorothy, he lived in Carlsbad and went to the localschool until 1939, when the family fled to London to escape the Nazis. He attended Clark ’s college, Cricklewood, and from there went to Regent Street Polytechnic (now part of the University of Westminster), where he studied for a chemistry degree. In 1940, like many German-speaking Jewish men, he was interned by the British government on the Isle of Man.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Chemistry Hospitals Czech Republic Second world war Source Type: news