SVEN HARTMANN

HARTMANN--Sven R. Sven R. Hartmann, a physicist whose voracious curiosity extended from the natural world to its cultural marvels, passed away at age 89 in his home in High Falls, NY, on December 17, 2021. He was born in the Bronx to Danish immigrant parents, grew up in Queens and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. After an undergraduate degree from Union College and two years in the Air Force, he received his PhD in physics from UC Berkeley. He joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1962 and conducted his research in the field of optical physics, transitioning to Professor Emeritus status in 2003. In 1964 Sven led the team of Columbia physicists that first demonstrated the effect called photon echo, a phenomenon whose existence had been seriously doubted. Photon echo methods became a powerful tool in understanding basic notions about the interactions of light and matter. Sven put his knowledge to practical use when he acquired, in 1976, a rural property in the Hudson Valley and formerly the home of Wickie Wackie, a rustic night club in a barn that welcomed Black Americans during the segregated 1950s and 60s. He saved the structure of this historic barn, and, in turn, The Farm and its many projects became a great source of comfort to Sven after the death of his first wife, Helen, in 1979. He met his future wife, Constance Beckley, an artist, in 1986, and the two of them quickly bonded over their shared love of nature, art, music and a robust sense of humor. They married in 1987, enthusiastically in love with life and each other until Sven's death. Together they raised honeybees, guinea fowl, peacocks and llamas. The Farm, and Connie, while deeply mourning the loss of Sven the man, also share the joy of seeing him in everything that goes on there - animal, insect, and plant. Nature in general celebrates the life of this remarkable man.