# Robert Havemann

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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Short description|German chemist and dissident (1910–1982)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Robert Havemann
| image             = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-76791-0009, Berlin, 15. Volkskammersitzung, Robert Havemann.jpg
| caption           = Havemann in 1960
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1910|03|11|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [Munich](/source/Munich), [Kingdom of Bavaria](/source/Kingdom_of_Bavaria), [German Empire](/source/German_Empire)
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1982|04|09|1910|03|11|df=y}}
| death_place       = [Grünheide](/source/Gr%C3%BCnheide), [East Germany](/source/East_Germany)
| fields            = [Chemistry](/source/Chemistry)
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = [Kaiser Wilhelm Institute](/source/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Institute)
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = 
| awards            = 
| spouse            =  1: Antje Hasenclever 1934<br>2. Karin von Trotha 1949<br>3: [Annedore Grafe](/source/Katja_Havemann) 1974
}}
'''Robert Havemann''' ({{IPA|de|ˈʁoːbɛʁt ˈhaːvəˌman|lang|De-Robert Havemann.ogg}}; 11 March 1910 – 9 April 1982) was an East German [chemist](/source/chemist), [physicist](/source/physicist), and [dissident](/source/dissident).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/12/obituaries/dr-robert-havemann-east-german-physicist.html|title=Dr. Robert Havemann, East German Physicist|date=April 12, 1982|page=B8|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)}}</ref>

==Life and career==
{{Righteous Among the Nations}}
He studied chemistry in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) and [Munich](/source/Munich) from 1929 to 1933, and then later received a doctorate in physical chemistry from the [Kaiser Wilhelm Institute](/source/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Institute).

Havemann joined the [Communist Party of Germany](/source/Communist_Party_of_Germany) (KPD) in 1932 and was one of the founders of the resistance group, [European Union](/source/European_Union_(resistance_group)). It was in connection with this group that he was arrested by the [Gestapo](/source/Gestapo) in 1943. He received a [death sentence](/source/death_sentence) for treason, but his execution was continually postponed because of the intervention of former colleagues, who insisted that Havemann was as important due to his work on chemical weapons and that he was still needed to explain the research. His execution was postponed so many times, he was able to survive until the [Brandenburg-Görden Prison](/source/Brandenburg-G%C3%B6rden_Prison) was liberated by the [Red Army](/source/Red_Army).<ref name="Florath">Bernd Florath. "Die Europäische Union," essay in [Johannes Tuchel](/source/Johannes_Tuchel), ''Der vergessene Widerstand — zu Realgeschichte und Wahrnehmung des Kampfes gegen die NS-Diktatur'', pp. 114-139. (2001) Wallstein Verlag. {{ISBN|978-3-89244-943-0}} {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref name="Keller">Claudia Keller. [http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/art270,1959739 "Späte Ehre für die selbstlosen Retter"] ("Late Honor for the selfless Lifesaver") ''Der Taggespiel'' (6 July 2005) Retrieved 16 March 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref>

After the war, he became head of administration in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in Berlin, but in 1948 he was dismissed from this position due to political pressure from the American authorities in [West Berlin](/source/West_Berlin). He continued his scientific work in the institute until he got barred from his laboratory in January 1950. 

He then became a professor of physical chemistry at the [Humboldt University of Berlin](/source/Humboldt_University_of_Berlin).  He became a member of the [Volkskammer](/source/Volkskammer) in 1950 and won one of the [GDR](/source/East_Germany)'s national prizes in 1959. He published articles in ''[Sinn und Form](/source/Sinn_und_Form)'' criticizing modern socialism and [revisionist](/source/Revisionism_(Marxism)) works of the Western authors.<ref>{{cite book|last=McAdams|first=A. James|title=East Germany and Detente. Building Authority after the Wall| publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press)|year=1985|isbn=978-0-521-26835-6|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511521874
|page=44|location=Cambridge}}</ref>

In 1963 he lectured on 'Scientific Aspects of Philosophical Problems' (published as 'Dialectic without Dogmatism—Natural Sciences against Communistic Ideology') and was expelled from the [ruling Socialist Unity Party](/source/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany) and dismissed from the University—officially because he gave an interview to a newspaper from West Germany.

His son [Florian Havemann](/source/Florian_Havemann) (born 12 January 1952 in [East Berlin](/source/East_Berlin)) fled to [West Germany](/source/West_Germany) in 1971.

Havemann was a victim of the [Stasi](/source/Stasi)'s {{lang|de|[Zersetzung](/source/Zersetzung)}} psychological warfare program.
thumb|upright|Grave at the Waldfriedhof Grünheide
He continued his work as a socialist critic and was put under [house arrest](/source/house_arrest) in 1976, at his home in the village of [Grünheide](/source/Gr%C3%BCnheide). This continued until his death in 1982, after a long time suffering from lung disease.

In 1989 he was [politically rehabilitated](/source/political_rehabilitation) by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany's [Central Party Control Commission](/source/Central_Party_Control_Commission_of_the_Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany).

In 2005, Havemann was awarded the title [Righteous among the Nations](/source/Righteous_among_the_Nations) by the Israeli [Holocaust](/source/Holocaust) memorial, [Yad Vashem](/source/Yad_Vashem).<ref name="Reuters">[http://news.oneindia.in/2006/06/20/israel-honours-memory-of-anti-nazi-european-union-1150760266.html "Israel honours memory of anti-Nazi 'European Union'"]{{dead link|date=February 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Reuters (20 June 2006) Retrieved 17 March 2010</ref>

==References==
<references/>
*{{cite book | isbn = 978-3-8391-3657-7 | author = Havemann, Robert | publisher = BoD| year = 2009| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=F0J0iSDZpJUC&pg=PA187 | pages = 187–188 | title = Morgen}}

==External links==
*[http://www.theburningwall.com/ Official website of the award winning film ''The Burning Wall''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422234058/http://www.theburningwall.com/ |date=22 April 2012 }}
*Hartmut Jäckel. [https://www.welt.de/kultur/article6720077/Der-Dissident-der-aus-der-Kaelte-kam.html "Der Dissident der aus der Kälte kam"] ("The dissident who came out from the cold") ''Die Welt'' (10 March 2010). Retrieved 18 March 2010 {{in lang|de}}
*[http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=5419422 Robert Havemann] – his activity to save Jews' lives during the [Holocaust](/source/Holocaust), at [Yad Vashem](/source/Yad_Vashem) website

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Havemann, Robert}}
Category:1910 births
Category:1982 deaths
Category:Scientists from Munich
Category:Scientists from the Kingdom of Bavaria
Category:Communist Party of Germany politicians
Category:Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians
Category:Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Category:Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Category:Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Category:Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Category:Cultural Association of the GDR members
Category:20th-century German chemists
Category:Colloid chemists
Category:East German dissidents
Category:Max Planck Institute directors
Category:Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin
Category:Red Orchestra (espionage)
Category:Communists in the German Resistance
Category:German Righteous Among the Nations
Category:German prisoners sentenced to death
Category:Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver
Category:People convicted of treason against Nazi Germany
Category:People condemned by Nazi courts
Category:Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Havemann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Havemann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Havemann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.