Professor Max Planck, c mid-20th century

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, born 1858 and died 1947, was a German theoretical physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918 for discovering energy quanta. He is credited with his role as the originator of quantum theory and as one of the founders of modern physics. Although gifted at music, he chose to study physics. He studied at the Universities, Munich and Berlin. He married twice, to Marie Merck in 1887, who died in 1909, and re-married to Marga von Hösslin in 1911. He had 5 children. He became a member of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG), a scientific organisation, later becoming President in 1930. Planck remained in Germany during the Nazi dictatorship period, avoiding direct conflict with the Nazi party and Hitler, despite concerns over his Jewish colleagues who were being expelled from their positions and exiled. He met with Hitler in 1933 to argue the case for Fritz Haber's ability to remain at work, which was unsuccessful. Planck successfully facilitated many of his Jewish colleagues to continue working in secret during the 1930s. However, when his term as President at KWG ended in 1936, the Nazis pressured him not to seek another term. As the climate in Germany became increasingly discriminative and hostile, those who continued to work in science with Jewish people, or on scientific theories created by Jewish people faced scrutiny from the Nazi party. As Planck continued to teach the theories of Einstein, he was accused of being a 'white Jew' by the Nazis, which Planck denied. In 1944, his son Erwin was arrested by the Gestapo following the attempted assassination of Hitler as part of the 20 July plot. He was sentenced to death and hanged in Plötzensee Prison in January 1945, greatly devastating Planck. Planck died in 1947 in Göttingen, aged 89.