FINLAY-FREUNDLICH, ERWIN

FINLAY-FREUNDLICH, ERWIN (1885–1964), astronomer. Born in Biebrich, Rhineland, Finlay-Freundlich became professor at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Prior to his activities as director of the St. Andrews University Observatory (1939–59), which he built up, he held the directorships of new institutes at Potsdam (1924–33), Istanbul (1933–36), and Prague (1936–39). Finlay-Freundlich was a versatile scientist and pursued research in celestial mechanics, stellar astronomy, theoretical physics, theory of relativity, solar research, and instrumental design. He equipped and directed several successful solar-eclipse expeditions, including two to Sumatra, in a determined effort to provide empirical tests of the theory of relativity through an exact verification of the minute effects of the gravitational light-deflection and the red-shift of spectral lines. He was one of the first pioneers in propagating the astronomical importance of Albert Einstein's concepts. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Von Klueber, in: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 6 (1965), 82–84; Astronomische Nachrichten, 288 (1965), 281–6. (Arthur Beer)