On December 10, 1944, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Otto Hahn for the discovery of fission. At first glance, it seemed like a major scientific victory, one of the turning points of modern physics and a remarkable scientific breakthrough. But behind this recognition lies an injustice toward Lise Meitner, the physicist who played a central role in the discovery and whom history has forgotten, like so many other women.
A remarkable partnership
They worked together in Berlin, combining chemistry and physics. Together, they discovered protactinium2 and studied radioactivity. However, in 1938, the rise of Nazism abruptly ended their collaboration. Meitner was forced to flee Germany. She found refuge in Sweden, where she never gave up her research and continued to share her findings with Hahn, who carried on with the experiments.
The Nobel… without Lise
In 1944, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Hahn alone, and Lise wasn’t even mentioned. This omission is all the more shocking given that her theoretical contributions formed the very foundation of the scientific understanding of nuclear fission3.
« Science makes people reach selflessly for truth and objectivity. »
— Lise Meitner
A belated recognition
Despite this lack of recognition, Lise Meitner refused to harbor any bitterness. She continued to teach, publish, and champion a science guided by ethics and humanity, far removed from military applications. She would later be honored by the scientific community, which named element 109 on the periodic table, meitnerium (Mt), in memory of this too-often overlooked woman.