‘Genius’ who disappeared in mysterious circumstances
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Ettore Majorana was seen by colleagues
as both a genius and an enigma |
The theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana, whose work in the 1930s is still reaping profound benefits in nuclear, medical and computer science but ended with his sudden disappearance in 1938, was born on this day in 1906 in Catania in Sicily.Majorana, who became part of a team of scientists working with the Nobel Prize-winning nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi in Rome, was regarded as a genius by his contemporaries, capable of solving in his head problems that others might take years to unravel.
While much of Majorana’s work in such areas as particles, their exchange interaction, matter and anti-matter, might seem dry and beyond the comprehension of non-scientists, it has consequences still seen today.
More reliable designs for nuclear reactors, advancements in medical isotopes used in cancer scans and treatments, more precise radiation dosages in radiotherapy, plus technological developments in quantum computing, can all be traced back to theories put forward by Majorana.
Yet his mysterious disappearance when seemingly on the cusp of achieving immortal status in the scientific world has given rise to as much discussion as the legacy of his work.
Majorana hailed from a scientific family. His father, Fabio, was an engineer in the telegraph and telephone industries, while an uncle, Quirino Majorana, was an experimental physicist at the University of Bologna.
Ettore Majorana enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome to study engineering in 1923, but switched to physics in 1928 with the encouragement of Emilio Segrè, a fellow student who would go on to become a leading nuclear physicist and radiochemist and, like Fermi, a winner of the Nobel Prize.
A brilliant student, Majorana was still in his early 20s when he joined the group of scientists assembled by Fermi, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Rome, who became known as the "Via Panisperna boys", named after the street address of their laboratory.
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Majorana's disappearance, as reported by the
Milan newspaper Domenica del Corriere |
Yet, for all his brilliance, Majorana as a person was an enigma. Unlike some of his colleagues, he never craved fame or recognition. He was rarely satisfied with a piece of work and would seldom publish his findings. Colleagues would describe him as distant and withdrawn.
He joined Mussolini’s National Fascist Party in 1933 and spent time in Leipzig, working with Werner Heisenberg, a theoretical physicist who would in time become a scientist on Germany’s nuclear programme in World War Two. The Nazis came to power while Majorana was there and he expressed solidarity with many of Hitler’s views and policies.
Shortly before his disappearance, he had been appointed a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Naples.
He vanished during or after a trip to Palermo in March, 1938. It was thought he might have been planning to visit his friend, Emilio Segrè, who was a professor at the university there.
But a letter sent by Majorana while he was in the Sicilian capital suggested a different reason for his journey. It was to Professor Antonio Carrelli, the director of the Physics Institute at the University of Naples, seemingly signalling his resignation. It spoke of making “a decision that has become unavoidable”.
Confusingly - before the original letter arrived - Carrelli received a telegram from Majorana apparently withdrawing his resignation and saying that he was returning to Naples.
Majorana bought a ticket for a boat back to Naples but while porters found luggage in his cabin after the passengers had disembarked, there was no sign of Majorana, nor any proof that he had ever been on board.
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Majorana's name is among those on a plaque marking
the Rome base of the "Via Panisperna boys" |
Multiple theories have been put forward to explain his disappearance, including suicide, murder, a desire to start a new life in another country, or even that he had decided to seek the anonymity of life in a monastery.
Proponents of the suicide theory suggested that Majorana realised that the research in which he had been involved would eventually lead to the creation of highly destructive weapons and suffered intolerable remorse as a consequence.
Others theorised that, during his time in Germany, he had learned too much about Nazi ambitions to develop a nuclear bomb and was murdered by Nazi agents.
But with no body ever found, and no witnesses to any suicide or murder, neither could be proved.
Leonardo Sciascia, the Sicilian writer, supported the idea that Majorana was appalled at the thought of his works being used to create nuclear explosives but suggested that, as a devout Catholic, he would have more likely sought to live an anonymous life in a monastery or other religious retreat than to take his own life.
The official explanation - reached 77 years after he vanished - is that he emigrated to South America.
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A postage stamp issued on the
centenary of Majorana's birth |
This gained credence in 2011 when a supposed witness made a statement about meeting Majorana in
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, in the years after World War Two. A photo also came to light, taken in Argentina 1955 of a man bearing several facial similarities to Majorana.
The case looking into his disappearance was reopened in Italy as a result. Four years later, the Rome Attorney’s Office was sufficiently satisfied that Majorana had been alive and living in Venezuela in the 1950s to declare the case closed, with no crime to investigate.
In 2025, the civil section of the Court of Rome issued a decree declaring Majorana’s presumed death.
Today, academics in the field of theoretical physics encounter his name recalled in such things as the Majorana equation, Majorana fermions, and Microsoft’s Majorana 1, a device used in the development of quantum computers.
A Majorana Prize is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to theoretical and mathematical physics. A postage stamp commemorating his life was issued in 2006 on the centenary of his birth.
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Catania's Cattedrale di Sant'Agata is a beautiful
example of Sicilian Baroque architecture |
Travel tip:The city of Catania, which is located on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, is one of the ten biggest cities in Italy, with a population including the environs of 1.12 million. A little like Naples, which sits in the shadow of Vesuvius, Catania lives with the constant threat of a natural catastrophe, more so given that its neighbour, Mount Etna, is active and regularly erupts, if not with explosive force. Catania has also been virtually destroyed by earthquakes twice, in 1169 as well as 1693. As such it has a reputation for living life to the full. In the Renaissance, it was one of Italy's most important cultural, artistic and political centres and enjoys a rich cultural legacy today, with numerous museums and churches, theatres and parks, and many restaurants. Catania’s historic centre is a showcase of Sicilian Baroque, rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake using the city’s signature black lava stone. A notable example is the Duomo of Sant’Agata, a monumental cathedral, home to the relics of St Agatha and framed by a grand piazza, at the centre of which is the Fontana dell’Elefante, the symbol of the city - a Roman basalt elephant supporting an obelisk.
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The University of Naples Federico II has its
headquarters building in Corso Umberto I |
Travel tip:The University of Naples Federico II, where Ettore Majorana was appointed a professor shortly before he disappeared, was founded in 1224 by the Emperor Frederick II. It is one of Europe’s most historically significant universities: the oldest public, secular university in the world. One of its most famous students was the theologian and philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, who went on to lecture there in the 13th century. Other alumni include Enrico De Nicola, the first President of the Italian Republic, and two other presidents, Giovanni Leone and Giorgio Napolitano. The university’s main locations include the central headquarters in Corso Umberto I, with additional sites in Portici, Torre del Greco, Anacapri, Avellino, and Bellizzi. A former college built in the 16th century in Via Paladino, in the area of Spaccanapoli, has been one of the university’s main buildings since 1777. With more than 70,000 students, 180 degree programmes across 26 departments, and strong research output, especially in engineering, medicine, and agricultural sciences, it ranks second among Italy’s major universities and is the leading university in Southern Italy.
More reading:
Enrico Fermi, dubbed the architect of the nuclear age
The Italian nuclear physicist who defected to the Soviet Union
Leonardo Sciascia, the writer who denounced complicity between government and the Mafia
Also on this day:
1607: The birth of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, patron of the arts
1623: The birth of composer Antonio Cesti
1694: The birth of comic opera composer Leonardo Leo
1953: The birth of Felice Casson, magistrate who exposed NATO’s secret army
2002: The death of novelist Franco Lucentini
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