Samuel Soloveichik

Prof. Samuel Soloveichik attending a wedding with his wife in New York City, 1963. Dr. Samuel (Shmuel Yaakov) Soloveichik (1909 – February 25, 1967) was an Orthodox Jewish chemist and talmudist.

Early life

Born in Pruzhany, Samuel Soloveichik was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik. He was the brother of rabbis Joseph Soloveitchik (1903-1993) and Ahron Soloveichik (1917-2001). He had two sisters, Mrs. Shulamith Meiselman (1912-2009), and Mrs. Anne Gerber (1915-2011). In 1934 he received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Brussels, graduating magnum cum laude. In 1939 he emigrated to the United States. During the Second World War Soloveichik worked as a research chemist for the Board of Chemical Warfare and the Board of Economic Warfare.

Soloveichik was an expert and frequently lectured and wrote in the field of the History of Chemistry. and whether the earth orbits the sun or vice versa.

Death

Soloveichik died aged 58 on February 25, 1967, at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York. He was survived by his wife Bathsheba Ziv, a teacher at the Beis Yaakov-Beis Miriam High School in the Bronx, and his four siblings. His older brother Joseph Ber delivered a brief eulogy at his funeral, as did Yeshiva University President, Dr. Samuel Belkin. The main eulogy, lasting close to two hours, was delivered by his younger brother, Ahron.

The Dr. Samuel Soloveichik Prize in Natural Science was established at Yeshiva University in his memory.

Brisker Family Tree

Articles "The Last Fight for Phlogiston and the Death of Priestley," J. Chem. Educ. 39 (1962), pp. 644–646 "Hidden Danger In the Lab", Chem. Eng. News, 41(37), (1963), p. 178 "Toxicity: Killer of great chemists?," J. Chem. Educ., 41 (5),(1964), p. 282 and Henry Krakauer "Oxidation stages of organic aliphatic compounds: A classification scheme" J. Chem. Educ. 43 (10) 1966, p. 532 and Henry Krakauer, "Alfred Werner," in Werner Centennial: A Symposium, ed. George B. Kauffman (Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society), pp. 3–7

Patents 'Method for Preparing Formic Esters', (US Patent 2617821, November 11, 1952) 'Process for the Production of Nitrous Esters' (Serial No. 438,325, August 2, 1955)