Hans Thirring was an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n theoretical physicist

Theoretical physics

Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...

, professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

, and father of the physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

 Walter Thirring

Walter Thirring

Walter Thirring is an Austrian physicist after whom the Thirring model in quantum field theory is named. He is son of the physicist Hans Thirring, co-discoverer of the Lense-Thirring frame dragging effect in general relativity....

.

Together with the mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

 Josef Lense

Josef Lense

Josef Lense was an Austrian physicistIn 1914 Lense got his doctorate under Samuel Oppenheim. From 1927-28 he was Professor ordinarius and from 1928-1946 Professor extraordinarius for applied mathematics at the Technical University of Munich...

, he is known for the prediction of the Lense-Thirring frame dragging effect of general relativity

General relativity

General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...

 in 1918.

He received a deferrment during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 because he had broken one of his feet while skiing.
He was a leading pacifist before the Anschluss

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 and after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.
But he could not save his older son, who was declared missing in action during the final two months of World War II. His body was never located.

Hans Thirring served as assistant, professor, and head of the institute for theoretical physics of
the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

 until his forced retirement in 1938 after the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. After the end of World War II, he was reinstated and became dean of the philosophical

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 faculty

Faculty (university)

A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...

 in the years 1946-1947. He was also active in the Socialist Party of Austria

Social Democratic Party of Austria

The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...

 and served as member of the Federal Council of Austria

Federal Council of Austria

The Federal Council of Austria or Bundesrat is the second chamber of the Austrian parliament, representing the nine States of Austria on federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council of Austria , it can be compared with an upper house or a senate...

during 1957-1963.