Albert was a source of knowledge , especially of the history of his native Italy as he once successfully proved in the famous English TV programme Mastermind ; he spoke five languages and he also knew the history of the Swiss Church in London inside out , having served as the first non-Swiss member of the Consistoire , the Parish Council , which filled him with pride .
Albert lived with his parents and sister in Kentish Town when the Blitz during WWII started . Because of his young age Albert was evacuated to the countryside . He later became a teacher at a technical college in Westminster . Albert ’ s health deteriorated rapidly over recent years . He last came to attend the Swiss Church on his 90th birthday , a memorable date as it fell on the day when Swiss people celebrate Saint Nicholas .
Albert was admitted to hospital shortly after Christmas last year and was then moved to a care home where he passed away .
A memorial service to celebrate and commemorate Albert ’ s life will take place at the Swiss Church in due course . Our thoughts and prayers are with Serenella and with Albert ’ s family in Italy and Switzerland , as well as with their carer Pamela who has shown them so much love and care on a daily basis over the past years , and with his close friends and neighbours who stayed at his side until the end .
Jésus dit : ‘ C ’ est moi qui suis la résurrection et la vie . Celui qui croit en moi vivra , même s ’ il meurt .’
Rest in peace , Albert . Reverend Carla Maurer
John Polkinghorne ( 16 October 1930 – 9 March 2021 )
He was one of the most famous scientists-turned-clergymen in the world , someone who stepped down from the height of a Cambridge Professorship to become a humble parish vicar . At Trinity College , where he enrolled in 1949 , he was lectured by Paul Dirac , specialising in Quantum Mechanics under the supervision of Abdus Salam . He was elected fellow of Trinity College in 1955 , soon after completing his PhD . After various posts , in 1968 he was back in Cambridge as Professor of Mathematical Physics . His work focused on the field of elementary particles , where he contributed to the discovery of the quark and researched into Feynman integrals and the foundation of S-matrix theory . He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 and among a great number of scientific papers in 1979 he wrote The Particle Play , a book for a popular readership that started a long series of publications for a wider public .
What had happened is well known : in 1979 , after a busy , long meeting of the Department , John told his shocked colleagues that he would resign from the University to read Theology and train to become an Anglican priest . He
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