Carl Hellmuth Hertz (also written Carl Helmut Hertz, 15 October 1920 – 29 April 1990) was the son of Gustav Ludwig Hertz and great nephew of Heinrich Hertz.
After graduating from the elite Schule Schloss Salem boarding school, he was at age 19 years conscripted into the German Army (Wehrmacht) and served as a soldier for Nazi Germany. He was captured in the North African theatre (World War II) by US troops and brought to America. However, the Nobel laureate Niels Bohr, a friend of Carl's father, arranged for Carl to be freed by the Americans and also found him a job in Lund, Sweden, so he could leave the States bound for Sweden without having to return to Germany.
After arriving in Sweden, Carl Hertz would later work with the Burlöv Municipality, Skåne County, then, Malmöhus County born Swedish cardiologist Inge Edler to develop medical ultrasonography and serve as the first professor of electrical measurements at Lund University.
Carl Hellmuth Hertz son, Hans Hertz (b. 1955), is a researcher in the field of biomedical physics and professor of biomedical physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in his native Sweden. In 2000, Hertz and his team at the Institute invented the metal-jet-anode microfocus X-ray tube. The tube allows for first time for microscopic or nano X-ray imaging. Hans Hertz is one of 460 Swedish members of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. The Academy has an additional 175 foreign members. Hertz has published over 200 scientific papers, which have been cited by other scientific papers more than 2000 times. He has been granted at least 3 United States patents.
