Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Fritz Zwicky Papers: Finding Aid
mssZwicky papers
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Fritz Zwicky Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1940-1967
Collection Number: mssZwicky papers
Creator:
Zwicky, F. (Fritz), 1898-1974
Extent: 38 items in 2 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This small collection contains correspondence, some photographs, 5 audio tapes, and 14 film reels
of Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974), a Swiss astronomer who worked most of his life at the California
Institute of Technology. The collection chiefly deals with Zwicky and his family, although there is a little
material related to astronomy. Some of the material is in German.
Language: English and German
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Fritz Zwicky Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Gift of Barbarina Zwicky, June 24, 2011.
Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974) was a Swiss astronomer. He worked most of his life at the California
Institute of Technology, where he made many important contributions in theoretical
and observational astronomy. Zwicky was born in Bulgaria in 1898. In 1904, at the
age of six, Fritz was sent to his grandparents in Glarus, Switzerland for school.
His interests were math and physics and he received an advanced education in
mathematics and experimental physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
located in Zürich, Switzerland. In 1925, he immigrated to the United States to work
with Robert Millikan at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) after
receiving the "international fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation."
In 1932, Zwicky married Dorothy Vernon Gates; they divorced in 1941. In 1947 he
married Anna Zurcher; they had three daughters: Margrit, Franziska, and Barbarina.
Zwicky died in Pasadena, California in 1974 and was buried in Mollis, Switzerland.
The Zwicky Museum at the Landesbibliothek, Glarus, houses many of his papers and
scientific works, and the Fritz Zwicky Stiftung (Foundation) in Switzerland carries
on his ideas relating to "Morphological analysis."
The collection chiefly deals with Zwicky and his family although there is a little
material related to astronomy. Some of the material is in German. The small
collection includes:
One volume that contains letters between Zwicky and his daughters while they were in
Switzerland (for school). Entitled “Briefe von und an die kinder.” In his letters,
Zwicky sometimes mentions his research and astronomical work.
There are three telephone books that belonged to Zwicky and 15 photographs. Includes
one portrait of Zwicky and 14 views of the star cluster Hyades (includes notes on
the front and verso of the photographs).
Also included in the collection are 5 audio tapes, reel to reel, that are not
labeled and undated. There are also 14 16mm film reels that contain scenes of home
life in Pasadena; Zwicky family trips; school shows with Zwicky’s daughters; and
scenes at Palomar Observatory.
Note: The cataloger did not review the audio-video material.
Arranged in 2 boxes:
- Box 1: Volume, Telephone Books, Photographs
- Box 2: Audio tapes, 16mm
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Zwicky, F. (Fritz),
1898-1974.
California Institute of
Technology.
Palomar
Observatory.
Astronomers -- United States --
Archives.
Astronomy -- Photographs.
Astronomy -- United States -- History
-- 20th century -- Sources.
Stars -- Clusters.
California, Southern --
History -- 20th century -- Sources.
Fetan
(Switzerland)
Pasadena
(Calif.)
Audiotapes -- 20th century.
16mm -- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- California
-- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence)-- Switzerland
-- 20th century.
Photographs -- 20th century.