Henry Brose enjoyed a close personal friendship with Einstein and translated some of his works from German to English. This photograph of them was taken at the University of Nottingham on 6 June 1930.
Henry Herman Leopold Adolph Brose was born in Adelaide in 1890 to German immigrant parents Johann and Wilhelmine Brose. His father worked as a tobacconist and hairdresser.
Brose attended Prince Alfred College 1899-1907. Turning down a pianoforte scholarship to study at the Elder Conservatorium, Brose accepted a bursary to the University of Adelaide and graduated with a BSc in 1910. He spent the years 1911-1912 teaching French at Prince Alfred College and was Rhodes Scholar in 1913.
While visiting relatives in Germany in early 1914 Brose was arrested as an enemy alien and detained until 1919. During his internment he translated works by German physicists and, it is believed, met Albert Einstein. In 1919 he was awarded BA and MA degrees by Oxford University.
In 1927 Brose was appointed reader in atomic physics at the University of Nottingham. During the early part of his tenure he raised with Einstein the possibility of giving a lecture, which was accepted. Ill health delayed the lecture and it did not take place until 6 June 1930 with Brose acting as translator at this lecture as well as those held at Oxford University. His translations appeared in the New York Times.
Brose returned to Sydney in 1935 and was appointed by the NSW Cancer Research Committee as physicist and research worker at the university medical school. He later provided cancer treatment to sufferers using controversial methods, worked as a pathologist, and acted as agent for an English laboratory firm.
His outspoken support of German initiatives following the outbreak of WWII brought him to the attention of the authorities and once again he was considered dangerous, resulting in his internment until late 1943.
Henry Brose died in Sydney on 24 February 1965.
In recognition of the friendship between Henry Brose and Albert Einstein, Prince Alfred College offers the Einstein Accelerated Learning Program for students in Year 8.