March 1, 1896-December 2, 1987

BY FRANK W. PUTNAM

FELIX HAUROWITZ was born in Prague, then the capital of Bohemia and one of the provinces of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In his long life he saw many changes in the world, including the collapse of that empire at the end of World War I, in which he served, and the invasion of Prague by Hitler's army at the beginning of World War II. His flight with his family to Turkey was followed by a decade there before he moved to Indiana University at Bloomington, where he lived and worked the rest of his life. He survived successive political revolutions, and he participated in revolutions in science and medicine that have affected the condition of humankind. Felix and his wife, Gina, and family were displaced from the country and culture he cherished, but he never forgot either. In his last days he often talked about his early experiences in Prague. Yet he was fated to spend more than half his life in other countries, Turkey and America, which he also came to love. He was of a generation that will not be seen again. The product of centuries of European intellectual tradition-learned scholars, dedicated scientists, enlightened human beings—they were driven by barbaric intolerance to a new land to which they contributed so much. Their impact will be enduring, and Felix Haurowitz was one of the great ones among them.