Rome, Stockholm, New York

In 1938, Enrico Fermi was a 37-year-old professor of physics at the University of Rome. His reputation had grown substantially with studies of atomic particles and his work in theoretical and experimental physics. On November 10, his achievements received their greatest recognition when Fermi learned he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. The official announcement cited Fermi "for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons."

The Nobel Prize was a signal professional honor. But living in Mussolini’s Italy with his Jewish wife, Laura, Fermi had become increasingly concerned about the growing number of Fascist anti-Semitic laws and the government control that might be imposed on his scientific research. In December 1938, Enrico Fermi left Italy with his wife and two children to accept the Nobel Prize in Physics at the award ceremony in Stockholm. Instead of returning home to Rome, however, the Fermi family traveled to England and then on to New York City, arriving in January 2, 1939. Fermi immediately took up a professorship that he had accepted at Columbia University and began working intensively with a young colleague there, Herbert L. Anderson.

Portrait of Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center, Archival Photographic Files, apf1-06024
Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1938. He is best known for his leadership of the Manhattan Project team at the University of Chicago, which produced the first controlled self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction on December 2, 1942.
http://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?keywords=apf1-06024
A photo of the navy blue cover of Enrico Fermi's Nobel Prize, with a wreath in gold in the center and detailed gold border
Nobel Prize in Physics, medal, 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

A photo of the navy blue back cover of Enrico Fermi's Nobel Prize, which has a starburst in the center and a detailed gold border
Nobel Prize in Physics, medal, 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

Nobel Prize in Physics, certificate, 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

A handwritten page from one of Fermi's notebooks in pencil
Enrico Fermi, "Alcune teorie Fisiche," autograph notebook, 1919

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

Handwritten equations in one of Fermi's notebooks
Enrico Fermi, "Alcune teorie Fisiche," autograph notebook, 1919

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

Enrico Fermi and Laura Capon Fermi, Rome, photograph, ca. 1928

University of Chicago Photographic Archive, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

Institute for Theoretical Physics, Copenhagen, photograph, 1935

James Franck Papers, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

The bright blue cover of the Nobel Prize award ceremony program with a simple gold border and "Les Prix Nobel" embossed in gold.
Nobel Prize award ceremony program, December 12, 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

The title page of the Nobel Prize award ceremony program. A pale green wreath with orange flowers surrounds Enrico Fermi's name, topped by a starburst.
Nobel Prize award ceremony program, December 12, 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

Nobel Prize award ceremony program, December 12, 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

Enrico Fermi, personal diary and Norwegian banker's business card, December 1938

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago

United States naturalization certificate, Enrico Fermi, July 11, 1944

Enrico Fermi Collection, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago