Jaroslav Heyrovsky was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) on December 20, 1890, to Leopold, a professor of Roman law at Charles University in Prague, and Klára (Hanl) Heyrovsky. It was during his years at the gymnasium (high school) in Prague that Heyrovsky developed a deep interest in mathematics and physics. By the time he entered the Charles University in 1909, his father had become rector of the college. Heyrovsky studied physics, chemistry, and mathematics at Charles, becoming influenced by physicists Frantisek Záviska and Bohumil Kucera. He also studied with chemist Bohumil Brauner, an association that led him in 1910 to University College in London, where he received his bachelor of science degree in 1913.

Frederick G. Donnan had succeeded William Ramsay at University College and stimulated Heyrovsky's interest in electrochemistry, which became the subject of his doctoral studies. He was detained in Prague, however, during a...