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Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Scope and Contents
  • Existence and Location of Copies
  • Arrangement
  • General

  • Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
    Title: Fritz Zwicky papers
    Creator: Zwicky, F. (Fritz), 1898-1974
    Identifier/Call Number: mssZwicky
    Physical Description: 1.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
    Date (inclusive): 1940-1967
    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 of Material: English and German

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

    Conditions Governing Use

    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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Fritz Zwicky papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Barbarina Zwicky, June 24, 2011.

    Biographical / Historical

    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."

    Scope and Contents

    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.

    Existence and Location of Copies

    Selected audiovisual items from this collection have been digitized. Digital reproductions are available in the Internet Archive.  

    Arrangement

    Arranged in 2 boxes:
    1. Box 1: Volume, Telephone Books, Photographs
    2. Box 2: Audio tapes and film reels

    General

    Former call number: mssZwicky papers.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    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
    California Institute of Technology
    Palomar Observatory