Seweryn Chomet facts for kids

Seweryn Chomet (born May 6, 1930, in Drohobycz, Poland – died July 24, 2009, in London, England) was a very smart person who did many things. He was a physicist, writer, journalist, historian, and publisher. He also translated many Russian science papers into English. For a while, he was a visiting researcher at King's College London.

He was friends with famous scientists like John Randall and Maurice Wilkins. Just before he passed away, he finished a book called Dr. Groer and The General's Hat. This book was about the history of Poland and the discovery of E. coli, a type of bacteria. Seweryn Chomet died at his home in Chelsea, London, after battling a serious illness for about a year. He is buried in a Jewish cemetery in Bushey, near London. For over 35 years, he was married to his second wife, Christine, who was also a stepmother to his three children, Julian, William, and Ann.

Early Life and Learning

Seweryn often spoke proudly about the beautiful city of Drohobycz where he was born. However, he also remembered the sad times of anti-Semitism (prejudice against Jewish people) in Poland back then. When World War II began, his parents, who were doctors, were forced to join the Russian army. They left him with a kind friend of his mother. This friend was very brave and helped him hide for most of the war, allowing him to survive the terrible events in Poland during the 1940s.

After the war, he managed to escape to England. His parents soon joined him there, and they started a medical practice in North London. When he was a teenager, his parents sent him to a "yeshiva," which is a Jewish school for religious studies. But he soon ran away, wanting to become a tailor. His father found him and made sure he focused on his studies. This led him to study physics at what was then called Regent Street Polytechnic. From there, he went on to do research at King's College London, which became his main academic home for most of his life. He was so good at his studies that he was offered a teaching job even while he was still a student doing research.

Working as a Scientist and Teacher

While he was a research student, Seweryn saw firsthand the exciting events behind one of the biggest science discoveries of modern times. Maurice Wilkins led a team at King's College that helped discover the structure of DNA. DNA is like the instruction manual for all living things, and understanding its structure was key to modern genetics, including mapping the human genome (all the genes in a human). Maurice Wilkins won a Nobel Prize for his work. He and Seweryn Chomet became good friends. Seweryn encouraged Wilkins to write his life story and share his side of this important discovery.

Seweryn started teaching physics at King's College in 1956 and became a lecturer in 1963. He retired in 1987 but continued to work part-time as a visiting lecturer. He was very proud to be connected to the "DNA legends" at King's. In 1993, he organized a successful event to celebrate 40 years since the 1953 DNA discovery. He later published a popular book about the event. He was very proud of anyone who studied at King's, especially his former students who became successful in their careers. If he had a question, he could always find an expert, often a former student, to help.

Besides teaching science, he translated many advanced science papers and books from Russian into English. He did this during and after the Cold War, even though he had never formally studied Russian. He also supported Russian scientists who wanted to work in Western countries. Seweryn was truly a "polymath," meaning he was an expert in many different fields: a physicist, writer, journalist, and historian. When he wasn't teaching, he wrote articles for The Times newspaper about various science topics. He also wrote restaurant reviews for New Law Journal. He might even hold the world record for the most letters published in The Times, with perhaps 101 letters!

With Christine, his partner and later wife, he even found time to organize conferences for different groups, like funeral directors and dentists. He also published several unique books, such as Why Is British Architecture So Lousy?. Even though he rarely drank alcohol and couldn't play a musical instrument, he was an expert on wine and classical music. He often wrote for Physics World magazine, and an article about his life appeared in "Interactions," a newsletter for members of the Institute of Physics.

After His Teaching Career

After retiring from teaching at King's, Seweryn turned his sharp mind from physics to history. He wrote a well-known biography about one of Queen Victoria's daughters, Princess Helena. His detailed research led him to collect many unique items about the Royal family. This even led to him meeting the Queen and having his picture taken with her. The book was called Helena, A Princess Reclaimed.

Soon after, he worked hard on another book, uncovering how a Frenchman tricked his way into royal circles in the 1800s by pretending to be a count. When his doctor told him he was seriously ill, Seweryn's main worry was whether he would finish his current book. Luckily, he did.

Even though he wasn't openly religious, he deeply respected Jewish traditions, his family's history, and the great suffering of his ancestors. In 1990, he wrote and published a book called Outrage at Auschwitz. The introduction was written by Immanuel Jakobovits, who was the chief rabbi of British Jews at the time. This book had a big impact. It stated that Auschwitz, a place where many Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust, should be seen as a sacred Jewish cemetery, a holy place that must be protected. He was very firm about this and used the knowledge of religious experts to understand why a Carmelite convent had built on the Auschwitz site. His book, also supported by Sir Sigmund Sternberg, a well-known figure in British and Jewish society, helped convince Pope John Paul II, who was from Poland, to have the convent moved from Auschwitz. It also helped get an apology from the Pope for the anti-Semitism (prejudice against Jewish people) that the Catholic Church had shown towards Jews over many centuries.

His reason for writing the book might have been a school friend who was likely killed at Auschwitz. He was dedicated to making sure that this place, where his friend and hundreds of thousands of others were murdered, would remain sacred. Auschwitz was also a Polish town. Its real name, before the Nazis took it over, was "Oszienchem." He also did other "mitzvahs" (good deeds) that we know very little about. He often did these quiet acts of kindness on both a large and small scale.

Another interesting part of his personality was his intellectual sense of humor, which was quite unique. Once, at a dinner party, he was heard telling jokes about "superstring theory" to two top British scientists. These were jokes that probably only a few people could understand, let alone laugh at!

Books by Seweryn Chomet or with co-authors

• D.N.A. Genesis of a Discovery (Ed.), Newman- Hemisphere Press 1994, London
• Count de Mauny – Friend of Royalty, Newman-Hemisphere Press, London
• Helena: A Princess Reclaimed, Begell House, New York, 1999 ISBN: 1-56700-145-9
• Outrage at Auschwitz, Newman-Hemisphere Press, London 1990

ISBN: 1-873106-00-9 ISBN: 978-1-873106-00-6

• Applications of Group Theory in Quantum Mechanicsby Mariia Ivanovna Petrashen, Eugenii Dmitreivich Trifonov, Seweryn Chomet, J. L. Martin. Hardcover, I P C Science & Technology Press, Limited, ISBN: 0-592-05078-5
• Industrial Relations Bill: A Basis for Agreement?by Seweryn Chomet. Softcover, Newman Communications Ltd, ISBN: 0-903012-00-6
• Nuclear Physicsby Konstantin Nikiforovich Mukhin, D. A. Smith, Seweryn Chomet. Hardcover, MacDonald & Company (Publishers), Limited, ISBN: 0-356-03415-1
• Solid State Electronicsby Gérard Fournet, Seweryn Chomet. Hardcover, I P C Science & Technology Press, Limited, ISBN: 0-592-02836-4
• Theory of Luminescenceby Boris Ivanovich Stepanov, Viktor Pavlovich Gribkovskii, Seweryn Chomet. Hardcover, I P C Science & Technology Press, Limited, ISBN: 0-592-05046-7

Books featuring Seweryn Chomet

• A Physicist Remembers by Richard J. Weiss. World Scientific Publishing ISBN: 978-981-270-058-2