Abraham Szöke

Abraham Szöke, a leading physicist in the fields of quantum optics, laser fusion, high energy density physics and X-ray crystallography, died Jan. 26 due to complications of lymphoma. He was 87.

Attended by Hanna, his wife of more than 60 years, and his sons, Danny, Noam and Ezra, he was deeply engaged in family and physics up to the end.

Szöke was born in Budapest, Hungary on Dec. 1, 1929, and spent his early years as a student there. An excellent student in mathematics and science from the beginning, he placed near the top of the famous Hungarian Eötvös mathematics competition. A Holocaust survivor, he escaped from Communist Hungary in 1949 and emigrated to Israel. He completed his education in physics at the Hebrew University, earning his doctorate in physics in 1962 with research on nuclear magnetic resonance -- effectively beginning his career in quantum optics.

Starting in the 1960s, Szöke was first a postdoc in Ali Javan’s famed laser group at MIT, then a faculty member at the Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University and then back at MIT. Later, in the 1970s, he was a visiting fellow at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Boulder Colorado.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Szöke made many breakthroughs in laser physics and trained several scientists who, in turn, became leaders in laser physics and inertial fusion.

In 1976, while in Colorado, he was recruited by the rapidly growing laser fusion program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and joined the advanced lasers group. This was followed by several years as associate division leader of the Lab’s Theoretical Division and positions in V Division devoted to the study and application of high energy density physics.

Szöke officially retired from LLNL in the early 1990s. He continued to be very active as a Lab associate, making major contributions to fields as diverse as X-ray crystallography (in collaboration with his wife), biological catalysis, high energy density physics and stockpile stewardship.

Szöke was an avid music lover, traveler and runner. He and his wife continued to run half marathons into their 70s, astonishing their much younger friends by beating them. He was known by family, colleagues and friends for his kindness.

He is survived by his wife, Hanna, four sons and six grandchildren. He also leaves the great legacy of his spirit as an always enquiring, curious and creative scientist who had an uncanny knack for making important discoveries.

Memorial donations in Szöke’s name may be made to Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) or Oxfam.