Paul Oppenheim

Who was Paul Oppenheim?

Paul Oppenheim was a German chemist, philosopher, independent scholar and industrialist.

After studying natural sciences and chemistry at the University of Freiburg Oppenheim earned his doctorate in chemistry and philosophy. He was active in the chemical industry until 1933, when he emigrated to Brussels. His father, the Frankfurt gem dealer Nathan Moritz Oppenheim, and his mother took their life together in 1933. In 1939 Oppenheim and his family emigrated to the USA, where he worked as a private scholar in Princeton where he and is wife Gabrielle Oppenheim-Errera hosted Sunday luncheons for intellectuals and artists. Albert Einstein was his great friend and they took regular Sunday morning walks together.

After the beginning of Nazi rule in Germany, he gave several persecuted scientists such as Carl Gustav Hempel and Kurt Grelling financial resources and assistance to escape from Germany.

He published with Hempel and Grelling on philosophy and philosophy of science, including Gestalt psychology. Oppenheim is co-founder of the so-called Hempel-Oppenheim schema .