My friend and former colleague Walter Kellermann, who has died aged 97, was among the first students to be excluded from Berlin University under Adolf Hitler's regime. As a German Jew, he again experienced antisemitism when he completed his DPhil in Vienna.
The son of a rabbi, Walter arrived in Britain in 1937 to work with Max Born, a professor at Edinburgh University, and shared a desk with Klaus Fuchs in Born's crowded office. Walter soon uncovered an error in one of Born's famous papers. In his autobiography, A Physicist's Labour in War and Peace, Walter related Born's immediate negative reaction and generous later retraction. I recall being told, on joining Leeds University in 1964, that this paper of Walter's was the most cited of any written by those then in the department.
Walter became a lecturer at Leeds in 1949, but only after some adventures. In 1940 his work in Edinburgh was interrupted as he, along with many other German nationals, was interned as an "enemy alien" and shipped to Canada. Conditions there were so appalling that the internees went on hunger strike – an experience that led to Walter's long interest in politics.
In 1941 he returned to Britain and took a temporary lectureship in physics at the University College of Southampton. For a time he was the local secretary of the Association of Scientific Workers trade union. Walter had an interest in cosmic-ray physics, which he developed later in Manchester and in Leeds. He made important contributions to this field and was an active member of the Haverah Park experiment, a cosmic-ray air shower detection array on the Pennines.
In 1948 Walter married the beautiful and elegant Marcelle, who had been a member of the French resistance. Their long and happy marriage was filled with joint projects and interests. They played a major role in developing the small Reform synagogue in Leeds, which started in the 1940s. Walter was chair of the fundraising committee and led successful efforts to find land for a Reform cemetery.
His political work continued after he retired and moved to London, where he took an active part in the Fabian Society. Walter was an entertaining companion with broad interests and strong opinions on politics, food and the arts. He never lost his passion for physics and his energy and thirst for knowledge never ceased to amaze me; just four months before his death, we discussed at length my latest paper. It was a privilege to be a friend of such a rare and talented man.
Walter is survived by Marcelle, two daughters, a son and three grandchildren.