The liquid crystal and soft matter community has lost a scientist whose work has had a lasting influence on the field. Wolfgang Helfrich, who passed away in 2025, made fundamental contributions to both liquid crystal research and biophysics.
After studying physics in Göttingen, Munich and Tübingen, and completing his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich in 1961, Helfrich worked in Munich, Ottawa, and at the RCA Laboratories in Princeton. Following his habilitation in 1967, he returned to RCA, where he began developing theoretical ideas on the structure of liquid crystals.
In 1970, at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Helfrich — together with Martin Schadt — developed the first twisted nematic liquid crystal display (LCD). This concept became the basis for a technology that is now used in billions of devices worldwide.
In parallel, Helfrich made important contributions to the physics of membranes. His 1973 paper introduced what is now known as the Helfrich energy, a curvature-based description of membrane elasticity that remains central in biophysics. In the years that followed, he developed key ideas on membrane fluctuations, entropic interactions, and vesicle shapes, which continue to influence research across disciplines.
From 1973 until his retirement in 1997, Helfrich was Professor of Experimental Physics at the Free University of Berlin. He received several distinctions for his work, including the Robert-Wichard-Pohl Prize of the German Physical Society and, in 2012, the Draper Prize of the US National Academy of Engineering.
Wolfgang Helfrich combined theoretical depth with a strong sense for physical problems. He moved between fundamental questions and practical applications and was known for his independent thinking and his critical view of rigid academic and industrial structures.
He will be remembered as a scientist who opened new perspectives in the study of liquid crystals and membranes, and as an inspiration to colleagues and students.
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Alexey Eremin
