Deborah Dultzin Kessler (also published as Deborah Dultzin-Hacyan) is a Mexican astrophysicist specializing in

quasar A quasar is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a m ...

blazar A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet (a jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light) directed very nearly towards an observer. Relativistic beaming of electromagnetic radiation from the ...

active galactic nuclei An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...

, and

supermassive black hole A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical obj ...

s. She is a professor and researcher in the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

(UNAM) Institute of Astronomy.

Education and career

Dultzin is the daughter of

Arieh Dulzin Arieh Leon Dulzin (, 31 March 1913 – 13 September 1989) was a Zionist activist who served as a Minister without Portfolio in the Israeli government between December 1969 and August 1970, though he was never a member of the Knesset. Biography Du ...

, a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

activist from

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(now Belarus) who emigrated to Mexico in 1928, and to Israel in 1956. Her mother was Fredzia Kessler, an oil painter from

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland, who had also emigrated to Mexico as a child in 1929. She was born in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

in 1945, and grew up with her mother after her father left Mexico. As a high school student and later at UNAM, she loved mathematics but struggled with physics. Nevertheless, she completed a degree in physics in order to aim for a career in astronomy. Her anti-American political stance, and the influence of

Guillermo Haro Guillermo Haro Barraza (; 21 March 1913 – 26 April 1988) was a Mexican astronomer. Through his own astronomical research and the formation of new institutions, Haro was influential in the development of modern observational astronomy in M ...

, persuaded her to continue her studies in the Soviet Union, where she went next with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She earned a master's degree in astrophysics at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, working with

Yakov Zeldovich Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich ( be, Я́каў Бары́савіч Зяльдо́віч, russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Зельдо́вич; 8 March 1914 – 2 December 1987), also known as YaB, was a leading Soviet physicist of Bel ...

, but for personal reasons returned to Mexico without completing a doctorate, at that time taking a position as a researcher at UNAM. At the suggestion of a colleague in a sabbatical visit to Paris, she compiled a doctoral thesis based on her existing published work, and defended it at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

in 1986. Her dissertation was ''Spectrophotometrie des noyaux actifs des galaxies'' 'Spectrophotometry of active galactic nuclei'' directed by Jean Heyvaerts.

Recognition

Dultzin is a member of the

Mexican Academy of Sciences The Mexican Academy of Sciences ''(Academia Mexicana de Ciencias)'' is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent foreign coll ...

. She was the 2010 winner of the Ciudad Capital Heberto Castillo award. In 2016, UNAM gave her the National University Award. She is also a winner of the UNAM

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Recognition The Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Recognition ( es, Reconocimiento Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, links=no) is an award given since 2003 by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). It is presented to women of the institution for achievemen ...

. In 2007, an international symposium was held in honor of her 60th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dultzin, Deborah 1945 births Living people People from Monterrey Mexican people of Polish-Jewish descent Mexican people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Mexican astrophysicists Women astrophysicists National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Moscow State University alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty Members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences