March 3, 1999, Nobel prize winning chemist and astronomer Gerhardt Herzberg died in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Gerhard Herzberg, Nobel Laureate, Chemistry, 1971
Issued by Canada Post in 2004
Designer: Paul Haslip
Photographer: Ted Grant  

Received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into free radicals. He was the first Canadian to win this Nobel. 

Born in Germany, and forced to flee due to Nazi persecution, Herzberg and his family found a home in Canada.

From his Nobel speech:
In receiving the award this year I think not only of these giants from whom I learned so much but also of my first teacher, Hans Rau, who guided my first steps in research, and to the many collaborators who helped me in my later work. Of them I should like to single out A. E. Douglas, whose quick and critical mind was always ready to help. I also think of my adopted country Canada, which gave a haven to me and my wife when we arrived as refugees. I think of the University of Saskatchewan which supported my work in its early stages and the National Research Council of Canada which provided an atmosphere so conducive to research.

Gerhard Herzberg’s career included more than 200 scientific publications. He was also a vigorous participant in the science policy debate following the Lamontagne report of 1970 (see Science Policy). The NRC created its highest grade, Distinguished Research Scientist, especially to allow Herzberg to continue personal research after he reached retirement age in 1969. Herzberg officially retired from the NRC in December 1994.

In 1975 the NRC’s astronomy and spectroscopy units were reorganized as the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, and in September 1987 Asteroid 3316, discovered February 1984, was named after him. In recognition of Herzberg, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering was established by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Similarly, the Herzberg Medal, awarded by the Canadian Association of Physicists, bears his name. Gerhard Herzberg | The Canadian Encyclopedia