Profile Text
Birth Name: Julius Robert Oppenheimer
Date of Birth: April 22, 1904
Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Date of Death: February 18, 1967
Place of Death: Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist, and professor. He was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, working on The Manhattan Project, the WWII project to develop nuclear weapons. For his role, he is among those described as the “father of the atomic bomb.” In 1947, he was appointed director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, and was chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the new U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
J. Robert was the son of Ella (Friedman), a painter, and Julius Seligmann Oppenheimer, a textile importer. His father was born in Hanau, Hesse-Nassau province, Germany, and was a German Jewish emigrant, who came to the U.S. as a teenager with little resources, eventually becoming wealthy. His mother was born in New York, to a German Jewish family that had lived in the U.S. since the early/mid 1800s. His brother was Frank Oppenheimer, a particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. He was raised on the Upper West Side.
J. Robert was married to Katherine “Kitty” (Puening) Oppenheimer, until his death. Katherine was born in Recklinghausen, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia, and was an ethnic German. She was a biologist, botanist, and a member of the Communist Party of America. The couple had two children. Katherine’s previous husband, Joe Dallet, was killed fighting the fascists in Spain during the 1937 Spanish Civil War. Katherine’s mother was a cousin of German field marshal and Nazi Wilhelm Keitel.
J. Robert’s paternal grandfather was Benjamin Pinhas Oppenheimer/Oppenheim (the son of Natan Oppenheimer and Karoline Stern). Benjamin was born in Neuenhaßlau, Hasselroth, Darmstadt, Hessen. Natan was born in Neuenhaßlau, the son of Isaak Oppenheimer and Babette. Karoline was born in Stammheim, Hessen, the daughter of Kaufmann Stern and Jachet Nathan.
J. Robert’s paternal grandmother was Babette/Babbette Rothfeld/Rootfelt (the daughter of Hirsch Rothfeld and Golda Gattmann). Babette was born in Schwanfeld, Bavaria. Hirsch was born in Westheim, Bavaria, the son of Seligmann Hirsch Rothfeld and Zipper. Golda was born in Schwanfeld, the daughter of Jacob Schlomo Gattmann, and of a woman surnamed Meyer.
J. Robert’s maternal grandfather was named Louis Friedman. Louis was born in Germany.
J. Robert’s maternal grandmother was Cecilia/Cecelia Eger (the daughter of David Eger and Clara Binswanger). Cecilia was born in Maryland, to German Jewish parents, from Bavaria. Clara was the daughter of Samuel Lemuel Binswanger and Saphira Levinger, who were the children of rabbis.
Sources: Genealogy of J. Robert Oppenheimer – https://www.geni.com
Birth record of J. Robert Oppenheimer – https://www.familysearch.org
J. Robert Oppenheimer on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org J. Robert Oppenheimer on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org