Since late 2021, serious allegations, ranging from pedophilia to repeated sexual abuse, have been raised against the physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961), significantly damaging the public reputation of the Nobel laureate. In both media and academic debates, the question has repeatedly been raised as to whether these accusations are justified. The discussion has long been hampered by an uncertain evidentiary basis, as key sources have remained largely inaccessible. This situation is largely attributable to the publication of the biography Schrödinger: Life and Thought by Walter Moore (1989), which was already considered problematic at the time of its release.

Drawing on previously unexamined sources – including Schrödinger’s Ephemerides (diaries), letters from affected women, and documents from the biographer’s estate – this lecture reassesses the foundations of the controversy. It analyzes the emergence of the scandal surrounding Erwin Schrödinger and offers a new perspective on his complex private life that also takes into account the viewpoints of his female partners, whose voices have largely remained unheard.

The conversation will take place at EPFL, in room BCH 2103 and online. The Zoom link will be provided here a few days before the event.

Program

15:00 Welcome and introduction, S. Bonella CECAM and MARVEL
15:10 Magdalena Gronau, Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin, Germany
15:40 Martin Gronau, Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin, Germany
16:10 Short break
16:20 Discussion
17:30  Apero for in person participants

Meet our speakers:

Magdalena Gronau - Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin

Dr. Dr. Magdalena Gronau is a chemist and scholar of literature and cultural studies. She has held positions at the University of Innsbruck, IFK Vienna, McGill University Montréal, the University of Erfurt, and HU Berlin, and has been a Freigeist Fellow of the Volkswagen Foundation at the Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin since 2023.

Martin Gronau - Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin

Martin Gronau is a classicist and scholar of ancient studies, with research experience at the Universities of Innsbruck, Frankfurt, Padova, Fudan University Shanghai, McGill University Montréal, IFK Vienna, and the University of Erfurt. Since 2023, he has been a research associate at the Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin in the project “The Philology of Physicists.”

Previous CECAM and MARVEL lectures can be found at

https://www.materialscloud.org/learn/sections/Btmngu/marvel-events

https://www.cecam.org/lectures