Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stuart, Baron Blackett (1897-1974), physicist, internationalist and humanitarian

Persona

Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stuart, Baron Blackett (1897-1974), physicist, internationalist and humanitarian

• Professor Lord Blackett OM, CH, Hon ScD, FRS, Nobel Laureate

18 November 1897 - 13 July 1974

Matriculated in 1919 after war service. Was made a Bye-Fellow in 1921.
Fellow of King’s College, 1923-1933.
Professor of Physics (Birkbeck/Manchester/Imperial College), 1933-1974.
Fellow Royal Society, 1933 (Royal Medal, 1940; Copley Medal, 1956; President, 1965-1970).
Nobel Prize for Physics, 1948.
Made an Honorary Fellow in 1948. CH, 1965; OM, 1967; Life peer, 1969.
Awarded some twenty honorary degrees.
Scientific adviser to the British Government (from 1964), and to the Government of India (1947; he was a noted internationalist and humanitarian).
‘A man who had achieved distinction in three separate fields of fundamental research, who made invaluable contributions to the war effort, and who exerted a powerful political influence’ (Bernard Lovell).
‘… that mysterious, intense and haunted visage, which later made Epstein count this Nobel Prizewinner’s bust among his greatest challenges. The tragic mask, however, was highly mobile, alive indeed with intelligence, modesty and friendliness’ (I.A. Richards).

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography