In Memoriam: Michael Heyrovský
Dear Professor Pyle
I hope the Alumni Medal event went well. I sorely missed meeting you all but I have been preoccupied with matters after the sad demise of my husband, Michael Heyrovský. We were both alumni of the department. The following is drawn from the obituary of him that appeared in the journal Electroanalysis:
"Michael was the son of the Nobel Laureate Jaroslav Heyrovský, Professor of Physical Chemistry at Charles University, Prague. Michael studied chemistry at Charles University and, after graduating in 1957, came to Cambridge to study for his PhD (in Electrochemical Photoeffect) with Ronald Norrish. He then joined the Institute [later the J Heyrovský Institute] of Polarography of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, where he stayed for the rest of his life. Up until the end of 2016, he was there daily and despite his age, he worked with collaborators on publications, helped with translations, and organised Heyrovský family documents. Sadly, his health deteriorated in 2017.
"For many years, Michael worked closely with his father and would accompany his father on visits abroad as an assistant. Probably the only exception was the visit by Professor Heyrovský to Stockholm in 1959 to receive the Nobel Prize. The communist regime – presumably fearing the family might emigrate – did not allow Michael and his sister Jitka to travel.
"Over many years, Michael’s scientific work contributed to our understanding of the photovoltaic effect, mechanisms of oxygen reduction on the mercury electrode, interactions of particles in the electric double-layer, and interactions of molecules and ions with the surface of the polarized electrode. He investigated π-electron interaction of the bipyridyl ion with the electrode surface, catalytic and photocatalytic reduction of water, and electroreduction of bipyridyl and its derivatives. Michael was strongly interested in the history of chemistry, and that of polarography in particular.
"Michael continued to work years after many contemporaries had retired from active science. A man of deep humanistic and scientific education, he epitomised dedication and integrity." (Electroanalysis 2017, 29, 2001-2002.)
Best regards,
Raji Heyrovska, PhD (1964–1968)
The photograph shows the late Michael Heyrovský with a photograph of his father, the Nobel Laureate Jaroslav Heyrovský.