January 30, 1998

Chemist, Shoah survivor nets Wolf Prize


A U.C. Berkeley professor who was saved from the Nazis by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg has been named a recipient of Israel’s 1998 Wolf Foundation Prize in chemistry.

The Wolf Prize, Israel’s most prestigious award, is given each year for achievements in science and art. In the prize’s 20-year existence, 17 recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

”I am absolutely delighted,” said Gabor Somorjai, who will accept the prize in a Knesset ceremony in May. ”It’s a very great honor.”


”It was clear it was known in Israel and Europe before it was known in the U.S.,” said the Hungarian-born professor, who got official word of the award by fax later on in the day.



”A catalyst can do things that are good for you and can do things that are bad for you,” he said. ”I’m focusing on those things that are good for you.”


”He did things that were very unique in that age and that time,” said Somorjai. ”He’s clearly one of the most important humanitarians of the 20th century.”

Wallenberg saved Somorjai, his mother and sister. The professor’s father, who was imprisoned in a labor camp, also survived. Much of his extended family, however, was exterminated.

Though young at the time of the war, Somorjai says its lingering effects color his perspective. ”It sharpens your survival instincts; it also sharpens your judgment and decision making,” said the professor, who belongs to Congregation Beth El in Berkeley.



Surprisingly, as a young man, ”I wanted to be a historian,” he said, ”but it was clear it was much easier and likely to make a living in chemistry.”

Somorjai has received many honors for his work as a chemist. He said the Wolf Prize is particularly significant to him because ”it’s the major award Israel gives to a scientist.”

Asked how he plans to use his share of the prize money, Somorjai paused for a moment. ”Probably paying off some my mortgage,” he said.