Born in Vienna, Austria, on March 15, 1930, he was exiled to the United States with his family after the Anschluss in 1938.
He said his love for science was born from his interest in ornithology and thanks to a microscope given to him by his parents when he was a child.
He notably studied at Oxford and Harvard, a prestigious American university where he subsequently became a professor from 1966.
From 1992, he also taught for years at the University of Strasbourg, where his close collaborators praised the quality of his work and his endearing personality during a ceremony in the Alsatian capital, after his Nobel Prize.
The eclectic scientist spoke on this occasion of his passion for cooking, “the only chemistry I really practiced”, he joked.
Martin Karplus was also a distinguished photographer. His Leica, received as a gift for his doctorate, accompanied him for a long time and his images were even exhibited in May 2013 at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
“While he is rightly celebrated for his intelligence, his refugee fate, and his many scientific contributions, perhaps Martin’s greatest impact came from the people and communities he brought together – through science , photography or cooking – and who were inspired by his example”, underlines the death announcement.
