Vionna, 7, makes a design with her fingers and paint under the pavilion at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam on July 7 during a ‘messy’ art session hosted by Amsterdam Free Library.

Giaever

GE scientist Ivar Giaever (left) accepts the 1973 Nobel Prize in physics as the king of Sweden looks on.

A young boy in Nazi-occupied Norway turned into a Nobel Prize winner in just 30 years. That may sound impossible to some, but not for the tenacious Dr. Ivar Giaever.

Giaever died in Schenectady on June 20 at the age of 96 after living a life of risk-taking, ambition and hard-earned success.

“Until the very end, Ivar was his usual snarky and charming self,” his daughter Anne Giaever wrote in his obituary.

Giaever was born on April 5, 1929, in Østre Toten, Norway. As a child, he was very inquisitive, always looking beyond. Anne Giaever shared a story in Giaever’s obituary of when the 6-year-old boy refused to believe the Easter bunny was real. His older brother believed and had lots of treats waiting for him Easter morning, while Giaever did not have the same outcome.

“Skeptical Ivar got nothing! Thanks to his parents, he learned on that day that being ‘right’ had consequences,” Anne Giaever wrote.

By age 11, Giaever’s life took a turn when the Nazis invaded Norway. According to Anne Giaever, over 90% of Norwegians opposed the Germans; Giaever’s family was a part of the majority. Despite the constant fear and oppression Norwegians were subjected to for five years, Giaever still managed to graduate high school a year early.

He enrolled in a Norwegian Technical University in 1948 to study mechanical engineering. Unfortunately for Giaever, he found little interest in the subject and great interest in billiards and chess. His grades reflected this.

After graduating in 1952, Giaever married his wife Inger who he would be with for over 70 years until her passing in 2023. They decided in 1954 to leave Norway, and moved to Toronto, Canada, as there was a housing crisis in Norway.

While in Canada, Ivar started studying at the Canadian General Electric’s Advanced Engineering program. He completed the course with very good marks and was eager to continue learning. In order to do that, Giaever had to move to the United States to continue his journey at GE’s research hub beside the Mohawk River in........

© The Leader Herald