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Fiat D.

In memory of a dear friend Simon A. Altshuler

In September 1966 I attended the 14th Colloque Ampere in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. I was fortunate to meet Simon Altshuler at that time.Á In a short time we became very close friends and one evening spent several hours walking along the river Ljubljanica.

I was born in Israel and spoke Hebrew and some English. Although my father grew up in Russia and spoke both Russian and Yiddish, I did not speak either language. Simon spoke Russian and Yiddish but did not speak Hebrew or English. I knew a few words in Yiddish and so in spite of the language barrier we had a very interesting and stimulating conversation. I never forgot this meeting and remember him as if it was yesterday. 

I have been involved in studies of paramagnetic systems and the book on paramagnetic resonance which Simon co-authored and the many publications from his laboratory served as milestones and source of inspiration to my group and me.

Years later I met members of Simonôs family, his daughters Tatiana and Nina and his grand children Anna and Igor, who continued in Simonôs footsteps and developed a family tradition of scientific work in physics and magnetic resonance. Today I am fortunate to have Simonôs grand daughter, Anna, in my laboratory studying towards her PhD degree in the field of magnetic resonance. 

I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words in memory of a great scientist that made so many important contributions to magnetic resonance and co-authored the pioneering and first publication in magnetic resonance.


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