Asberg, Stefan, interview with J. Schramek, Chicago, 13 October 2006; telecast in Sweden on channels SVT1 or SVT2, during intermission of Nobel Prize ceremonies, 10 December 2006.
Translation of Åsberg’s Swedish narration is in italics; his interview questions (in English) to Schramek are in quotes; plus
other Press Coverage of J. Schramek
having acquired Chadwick’s Nobel Prize set from Chadwick’s daughters
Awards of Outstanding International Importance to Statesmen and Heroines
(World-Class Awards to Statesmen and Heroines)
J. Schramek: So it’s a simple engraving of the name.
--- Possibly one of the only Nobel prizes in the world available for sale sits on display today in an insignificant hotel room in Chicago. On the engraving, it reads “James Chadwick“, Nobel Prize in physics. The year was 1935.
J.S. : I would be amazed if he shouldn’t be ranked in the top ten percent, which now we’re talking about over 700 of them, and arguably in the top 5 percent. On the rim, the word ‘guld 1935’, who knows if….
--- James Chadwick’s memory is valued by Jeff Schramek, who bought the prize for a remarkably economical price ten years ago in London. James Chadwick’s children were facing economic trouble and wanted to sell. Being that Jeff has an intensive interest in world history and diplomacy, he bid in the auction over the phone.
“Shouldn’t a prize like this stay in the family?" J.S. : In effect, Chadwick’s children, two daughters, evidently inherited virtually nothing and they decided that they wanted to try to raise some money by auctioning it off, but, of course, the auction houses really don’t know what they’re doing in this area. There’ve only been a handful of Nobels auctioned in all of these decades. What you want to do with something like this is to keep it in archival .. quality .. wrappings…
--- James Chadwick succeeded in proving to the world that the neutron, the uncharged particle, existed and that it could explain many of the questions in atom research. Chadwick’s discovery played a key role in the creation of the atomic bomb. He worked in the mid ‘40s as one of the Manhattan Project researchers.
J.S. : Chadwick is vastly underappreciated. Before the biography, The Neutron of the Bomb was written in ’97, no book had been written about Chadwick at all. Quite an - impressive - thing - to - feel. The weight is 206.8 grams and the diameter is 66 millimeters all in shining, genuine gold. Chadwick’s Nobel Prize won’t be leaving Chicago for less than, well, quite a bit. . .
J.S. : It’s a world treasure. And, on my website, there is one page which has a picture of the obverse of the medal and a list of where the most significant, famous Nobel prizes are…
Swedish Television web page about its U.S. correspondent Stefan Åsberg, who interviewed J. Schramek about the Nobel Prize set of Sir James Chadwick, for the live national telecast, on 10 December 2006, of the Nobel Prize award festivities held in Stockholm :
Stefan Åsberg is stationed in Washington and covers North America. He has worked there since January 2003 and is staying through 2006. As a correspondent, he covers everything from politics to sports.
Stefan came to SVT in 1993. He began on the local news program Mittnytt, when journalist Alf Lundkvist was recruited to Rapport.
He had already begun his journalism career at fifteen years of age as an intern at Radio Gävleborg, and “succeeded in hanging around.” He managed the sports results service and gradually began to do a few program segments.
“My most faithful listeners were friends in high school who, in the beginning, nearly memorized the segments and harassed me hard every Monday morning.”
Stefan holds a degree in civil economy, but when he graduated in 1992, the economic crisis lay heavy over Sweden. The job market was depressing. Then, with support from an employment service, he began working full-time at Radio Gävleborg. “From then on, I was hooked.”
Translation .. of .. Swedish, .. from http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=32861&a=492389
Bulletin .. of .. the .. Atomic .. Scientists , .. May/Jun1998, Vol. .. 54 .. Issue .. 3, .. p. .. 9: . Going for the Gold
When James Chadwick, a British member of the Manhattan Project team and a 1935 Nobel Prize winner, died in 1995, the event received little attention. His biographer, oncologist Andew Brown. says one reason may be that Chadwick, who he describes as extremely shy, retreated into the laboratory after World War II. As for Chadwick's Nobel. his daughters simply sold the medal and the award certificate that went with it. They are now in the hands of a Chicago collector, Jeffrey Schramek,
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who
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is
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offering
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them
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for
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resale…
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VENDOR’S
NOTE: Chadwick died, not in 1995 as
stated
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above,
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but
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in
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1974.
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Jon Van and Jon Bigness., “NEW TOLL-FREE NUMBER, 877, COULD ADD TO CALLER CONFUSION THIS SPRING”,
Chicago
Tribune,
March
16,
1998,
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Section
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3
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(BUSINESS)
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p.
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2:
Historic prize: Getting a Nobel Prize is the dream of most scientists, and a few have been known to go to great lengths in their efforts to win one, grabbing credit for research mostly done by others or stretching the importance of one's own research to make it appear more
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worthy.
The one thing they don't do is try to buy one outright, which may be too bad for Chicagoan Jeffrey Schramek, because he has one to sell. A few years ago, Schramek, a collector, bought the Nobel Prize medal and award certificate given to Sir James Chadwick of Liverpool University in 1935 when he won the prize in physics for discovering
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the
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neutron.
"His two daughters decided to sell it," said Schramek. "It's very rare to hear of a Nobel being for sale. I have heard of rumors,….”