# Peter Debye

_Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist (1884–1966)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/peter-debye
Last updated: 2026-10-23

> Peter Joseph William Debye was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 24 March 1884 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Maastricht ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P19))
- **Died:** 2 November 1966 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P570))
- **Place of death:** Ithaca ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P20))
- **Citizenship:** Kingdom of the Netherlands; United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P27))
- **Occupation:** chemist; physicist; theoretical physicist; scientist; engineer; crystallographer ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P106))
- **Education:** RWTH Aachen University; LMU Munich; ETH Zurich ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P69))
- **Spouse:** Mathilde Alberer ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P26))
- **Awards:** Faraday Lectureship Prize; Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Max Planck Medal; Willard Gibbs Award; Franklin Medal; Rumford Medal; Priestley Medal; Lorentz Medal; National Medal of Science; Mendel Medal; Commander of the Order of Leopold II; Order of the Netherlands Lion; Fellow of the American Physical Society; Guthrie Lecture; Foreign Member of the Royal Society ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835#P166))

## Questions

**When was Peter Debye born?**  
Peter Debye was born on 24 March 1884 in Maastricht.

**Where did Peter Debye study?**  
Peter Debye was educated at RWTH Aachen University, LMU Munich, ETH Zurich.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Peter Debye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Debye) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q103835](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103835) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Debye100.jpg by Unknown author Unknown author (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Debye100.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Peter Debye, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Debye100.jpg — Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Peter Debye". DigiNepal. Last updated 23 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/peter-debye. Retrieved 4 November 2026.