THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB used in warfare was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The explosion, which had the force of more than 15,000 tons of TNT, instantly vaporized the center of the city and eventually killed some 100,000 from the blast and radiation poisoning. Working under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientists who developed the bomb, having undergone rigorous security clearances, did so in isolation and secrecy. One of the men who toiled away at the task was a handsome thirty-something chemist named Claude René Schwob, and as it turned out he was keeping more secrets than most of his coworkers. He not only had to keep silent about the job he was doing for the war effort, but he also had to avoid drawing undue attention to himself, because he was homosexual.
But despite the need for secrecy, Schwob refused to deny or be ashamed of his sexuality, which was unusual in this pre-Stonewall era. He was fortunate to be a brilliant scientist at a time when the government needed such men, and while he had to be discreet, he was determined never to live a furtive or frustrated existence even in that intolerant age. In this way, he demonstrated that it was possible for a gay man to lead a happy and productive life without compromising his values—or foregoing an active sex life.
David L. Chapman, based in Seattle, is the author of over a dozen books on male photography and bodybuilding, including The Kings of Wrestling (2024).
