![Portrait of Dannie Heineman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Portrait_of_Dannie_Heineman.jpg)
Dannie N. Heineman (23 November 1872 – 31 January 1962) was a Belgian-American engineer and businessman.
He was the managing director and controlling shareholder of the Belgian industrial multinational
Sofina
Sofina, ''Société Financière de Transports et d'Entreprises Industrielles'', is a Belgian holding company, headquartered in Brussels with offices in Singapore. As part of the Bel20 index, it is one of the twenty largest capitalisation in Be ...
. He was a prolific sponsor of science especially through
Heineman Foundation Heineman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Benjamin W. Heineman (1914–2012), American railroad executive
* Benjamin W. Heineman, Jr. (born 1944), American journalist, lawyer and business executive
* Dannie Heineman (1872â ...
in medical sciences and awards in
mathematical physics
Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...
and
astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
.
In 1939, while living in Belgium, Dannie Heineman managed to get the Luxembourg government to open its closed borders and admit approximately 100 Jewish families from Germany. The persuasive argument was that hotels in Luxembourg were empty and he would pay for the rooms and give the Jews an allowance, and they would not be working and taking jobs away from Luxembourg workers. This arrangement worked until 10 May 1940 when Hitler invaded. At that point his assistant Mr. Schmidt made a final six months payment to the families. Among the families was the physicist
Ernst Ising
Ernst Ising (; May 10, 1900 in Cologne, Germany – May 11, 1998 in Peoria, Illinois, USA) was a German physicist, who is best remembered for the development of the Ising model. He was a professor of physics at Bradley University until his r ...
who survived the war.
See also
*
Dannie Heineman Prize of the
Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (german: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the second oldest of the se ...
*
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics is an award given each year since 1959 jointly by the American Physical Society and American Institute of Physics. It is established by the Heineman Foundation in honour of Dannie Heineman. As of 2010 ...
*
Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics
The Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics is jointly awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society and American Institute of Physics for outstanding work in astrophysics. It is funded by the Heineman Foundation in honour of Dannie Heinem ...
References
External links
Biography at American Physical SocietyWebsite of the Heineman Stiftung, German FoundationWebsite of the Heineman Foundation, American FoundationWebsite of the Heineman-Robicsek Foundation
1872 births
1962 deaths
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