Walter Kohn

Physicist Walter Kohn was born in Vienna, Austria, on March 9, 1923, into a middle class family. Kohn’s family owned an art shop when he was a child, and they remained successful with the business until Hitler came to power. For five years before the rise of Hitler, Kohn attended the Akademische Gymnasium, which was an extremely reputable school. When Hitler came to power, he annexed Austria, and forced Kohn and his family to move from the home. They made for England. Upon arrival, Kohn had decided that he wanted to become a farmer. This was because he had seen too many unemployed intellectuals during the depression. However, he caught meningitis, and became to weak to follow a career in farming, so turned to science. In May, 1940 Winston Churchill ordered all persons with enemy passports to be deports to internment camps in Canada, and since Kohn was from Austria, he was deported. After exiting these camps, he attended The University of Toronto. He later graduated from The U...