Alfred Bader
| Alfred Bader | |
|---|---|
Alfred R. Bader, recipient of the Pittcon Heritage Award, 2009
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| Born |
April 28, 1924 Vienna, Austria |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Alma mater | Queen's University, Harvard University |
| Doctoral advisor | Louis Fieser |
| Known for | Aldrich Chemical Company, Aldrichimica Acta |
| Notable awards | American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (1997), Pittcon Heritage Award (2009) |
Alfred Robert Bader CBE (born April 28, 1924, in Vienna, Austria) is a Canadian chemist, businessman, philanthropist, and collector of fine art. He was considered by the Chemical & Engineering News poll of 1998 to be one of the "Top 75 Distinguished Contributors to the Chemical Enterprise" during C&EN's 75-year history.
Alfred Bader was born on April 28, 1924, in Vienna, Austria. His father, Alfred Bader, was of Czech Jewish descent. His grandfather, Moritz Ritter von Bader, had been a civil engineer, who worked on the Suez Canal and was knighted by Emperor Franz Josef for his service as Austrian consul at Ismaïlia. His mother, Elizabeth Countess Serényi, came from an aristocratic Catholic Hungarian family. In spite of adamant opposition from Serényi's family, the couple had married in London and settled in Vienna. Alfred was born only two weeks before his father's death. He was adopted by his father's sister, Gisela Reich, and raised as a Jew. His older sister, Marion, remained with Countess Serényi and was raised as a Catholic.
In June 1938, Bader was forced out of school because Jews were forbidden to attend beyond the age 14. On December 10, 1938, he was sent from Austria to England as part of the Kindertransport to escape Nazi persecution. His adoptive mother remained in Austria, and died in 1942 in Theresienstadt.
While in England, Bader attended the East Hove Senior School for Boys, and Brighton Technical College. In 1940 he was sent to a Canadian internment camp for European refugees (which Bader described as spartan but a good influence on his academic and social education). While in the camp, Bader passed his junior and senior matriculation, taking exams from McGill University. A Montreal sponsor, Martin Wolff, welcomed him into a Canadian Jewish family in late 1941 and encouraged him to study further.
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