Serie A - Biographical and personal papers

This series consists of correspondence, diaries, writings, publications, drawings, and memorabilia related to Otto Frisch and to Lise Meitner. The material is arranged in five subseries: Biographical and autobiographical papers (A.1-7), Diaries and notebooks (A.8-32), Career and memorabilia (A.33-106), Family correspondence and papers (A.107-225), and Supplemental Papers given by Ulla Frisch (A.226-251). The Lise Meitner papers may be found in the penultimate group, A.134-211. For photographs, slides, tape-recordings, etc. of Frisch, his family and colleagues, see Series G.

A.1-7 includes material related to his autobiography What little I remember, as well as obituary tributes about Frisch.

Frisch made little distinction between the types of journal found at A.8 -32, Diaries and notebooks. In earlier years, he tended to use 'notebooks' in which he would draw up tables of days and weeks on some of the pages, thus creating a 'diary'. Later on, he used 'diaries' and made them serve for wider purposes than the usual day-to-day record. From about 1947 he often chose the 'Lefax' system which enabled him to keep several years' notes in one binder; see A.24-31, or, for less organised examples, A.12, A.13, A.22. The contents of all these documents are similar, though their proportions vary. They include experimental results, ideas for research, journals of visits, notes of conferences, meetings and lectures, personal jottings, memos and addresses. In his address books Frisch would use the thumb-index to suit his own purposes: thus 'I' may turn up 'Ideas', 'M' lead to `Money', etc. These books therefore supplement the scientific and technical material found in Series B as well as documenting Frisch's personal life. The material is presented as a chronological sequence so far as this is ascertainable and Frisch's methods of work allow.

In A.33-106 Career and memorabilia, A.86-90 relate to music, though it should be noted that there are many other references elsewhere, e.g., A.56, A.72, A.95 and in the general correspondence. A.91 to A.94 are indexed folders of letters of condolence from colleagues, relatives or friends containing reminiscences or information.

Most of A.107-225 Family correspondence and papers consists of correspondence, but there are other biographical items included. Many of the letters employ nicknames and diminutives as mode of address or signature; Lise Meitner normally signed herself 'T.L.' (= Tante Lise) when writing to Frisch. For convenience, the material has been divided among the Frisch, Meitner and Blau (Frisch's wife) families, and presented by alphabetical order of Christian name in order to avoid confusion arising from the married names of the female members. The letters from Frisch's father and mother (A.109-120) are almost all joint communications, sometimes also incorporating greetings and messages from other relations. The Lise Meitner papers, A.134-211, are further arranged as Biographical and personal papers (A.134-154), Notes and drafts (A.155-176), and Correspondence (A.177-211) The Notes and drafts, are all later works, dating from Lise Meitner's postwar periods in Sweden and Cambridge, with the exception of the brief items in A.155-157. The papers at A.219-225 are those related to the Blau family. Frisch married Ursula (Ulla) Blau in 1951 and they had two children. The letters they exchanged (A.221-225) contain information about conferences, scientific colleagues, and research projects as well as personal and family news.

The supplemental papers given by Ulla Frisch after the main group of papers, A.226-251, include Frisch's caricature drawings of scientific colleagues and others at committee meetings, conferences, and social occasions, and include those made at Los Alamos (A.233-249).

See also: A.251