A Polish Jew living in Leipzig at the outset of Nazism, Michaelis was granted asylum in Britain along with three of his siblings and commenced studying maths, physics and chemistry at Birkbeck. Being a German national, he wasn’t accepted for military service until a petition from the Master of Birkbeck proved successful, and he eventually served in the Royal Air Force.

Not much is known about him, but after the war he returned to Birkbeck, became a British citizen, and worked as a research laboratory supervisor during Rosalind Franklin’s time at Birkbeck. He would go on to secure a PhD.