Odd Hassel

Odd Hassel
Odd Hassel, c.1935
Born	(1897-05-17)17 May 1897 Kristiania, Norway
Died	11 May 1981(1981-05-11) (aged 83) Never married
Nationality	Norway
Fields	Physical chemistry
Alma mater	University of Oslo
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1969)

Odd Hassel (17 May 1897 – 11 May 1981) was a Norwegian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate.

Born in Kristiania (now Oslo), his parents were Ernst Hassel, a gynaecologist, and Mathilde Klaveness. In 1915, he entered the University of Oslo where he studied mathematics, physics and chemistry, and graduated in 1920. After taking a year off from studying, he went to Munich, Germany to work in the laboratory of Professor Kasimir Fajans. His work there led to the detection of absorption indicators. After moving to Berlin, he worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, where he began to do research on X-ray crystallography. He furthered his research with a Rockefeller Fellowship, obtained with the help of Fritz Haber. In 1924, he obtained his PhD from the Berlin University, before moving to his alma mater, the University of Oslo, where he worked from 1925 through 1964. He became a professor in 1934.

His work was interrupted in October, 1943 when he and other university staff members were arrested by the Nasjonal Samling and handed over to the occupation authorities. He spent time in several detention camps, until he was released in November, 1944.

In addition to the Nobel, he also received the Guldberg-Waage Medal from the Norwegian Chemical Society and the Gunnerus Medal from the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters, both in 1964. An annual lecture, named in his honor, is given at the University of Oslo.