Șerban Țițeica ( – May 28, 1985) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n quantum physicist. He is regarded as the founder of the Romanian school of theoretical physics. The third and last child of mathematician Gheorghe Țițeica, he was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, where he attended Mihai Viteazul High School. He then went to the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, graduating in 1929 with a degree in Physics and Chemistry and another in Mathematics. That year, he met

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian and naturalized American physicist, renowned for being the creator of the world's first artificial nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, and a member of the Manhattan Project ...

, who gave three talks at his alma mater; upon Fermi's recommendation, he pursued his studies at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

from 1930 to 1934 under

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

, earning a doctorate in 1935, with thesis "On the behaviour of electrical resistance of metals in magnetic field". Țițeica taught at

Politehnica University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest () is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania founded in 1818.University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

(1941–1948) and the University of Bucharest (1949–1977). He became a titular member of the Romanian Academy in 1955, and served as its vice president from 1963 until his death in his native city. Țițeica was a member of the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (u ...

and of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. He was also the Vice-Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in

Dubna Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of '' naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and o ...

(1962–1964), and a member of the Council of the European Physical Society (1970–1975). In 1971 he was awarded the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic, 2nd class. He is buried at Bellu Cemetery, in Bucharest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Titeica, Serban 1908 births 1985 deaths Scientists from Bucharest Romanian physicists Mihai Viteazul National College (Bucharest) alumni University of Bucharest alumni Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of the Politehnica University of Bucharest Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Titular members of the Romanian Academy Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic Burials at Bellu Cemetery