Born in Ústí, Lilli Hornig (née Schwenková) was a prominent chemist and, together with the Brno physicist Georg Placzek, was the only Czech to have played a role in the development of the atom bomb in the secret American “Manhattan Project”. The house in which she was born stands at no. 643/72 in Masarykova street in the centre of Ústí nad Labem.

The Schwenk family moved from Ústí nad Labem to Berlin in 1929 and, after the Nazis assumed power, left Europe in 1933 and settled in the USA. Lilly spent the Second World War in New Mexico and worked in the centre for the development of the atomic bomb. After the surrender of Japan she completed her doctorate at Harvard which had been interrupted by the war and embarked on an academic career. She was closely involved in the women’s emancipation movement. She died at the end of 2017 at the age of 96.

Keywords: ; atomic energy; war; Jews; plutonium; weapon; birthplace; Donald Hornig; Georg Placzek; Ústí nad Labem

Krsek, M.: Neznámí hrdinové mluvili i německy. Praha 2018.
Plutoniová dáma se vrací domů. URL: http://www.muzeumusti.cz/c2226/Plutoniova-dama-se-vraci-domu/ [20. 7. 2021].

Lilli Hornig spent her early childhood in Ústí nad Labem (mid 1920s). (Author: public domain)

Birthplace of Lilli Hornig in Ústí nad Labem. (Author: jam)

The birthplace was equipped with a large-format photograph of Lilli at the age when she lived in Ústí. (Author: jam)

The birthplace of Lilli Hornig