Oppenheimer link to wedding dress on display in Edinburgh

A wedding dress which has been gifted to the Museum of Edinburgh connects the capital with the nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The dress was worn in May 1940 by Maria Thereza de Rio Branco, the daughter of the Brazilian Minister in Copenhagen during the Second World War. Maria married Ronald Turnbull who was born and schooled in Edinburgh. Mr Turnbull worked for the Special Operations Executive Mission (Danish Section) in Stockholm. The couple were engaged on the eve of the Nazi invasion of Denmark in April 1940.

Mr Turnbull’s father was Colonel Bruce Turnbull who was a senior Bailie in Edinburgh. Turnbull Sr had a second career as an Olympic hockey coach for the Indian and Danish national teams. There are other items in the collection at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh relating to Bruce Turnbull’s life and career.

In 1942 two years after he was married to Maria, Ronald assisted the escape of Niels Bohr from Nazi-occupied Denmark. Bohr was a Danish physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1922 who went to Los Alamos in the US and worked with J Robert Oppenheimer on the development of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer referred to Bohr as his chief adviser and one of the main scientists behind the project.

The recent Oppenheimer film has rekindled the story of the scientist – and one can only speculate what might have happened if Edinburgh’s Ronald Turnbull had not secured Bohr’s escape. Ronald was awarded the OBE and received a Danish honour, becoming a Knight of the Dannebrog.

Sadly Maria died in a car crash in September 1945, leaving behind her husband and a young son and daughter. The Museum of Edinburgh now holds her wedding dress as a recognition of her life, and the contribution of the Turnbull family to wartime history.

A Lauriston Lecture will be held on 7 November at 10.30am exploring the collection including this particular dress.

The talk is entitled From Silk and Lace to Fleece and Hi-vis jackets: What’s new in the MGE Dress History and Textiles Collection?

Tickets are available now on the Museum website.

Culture and Communities Convener Councillor Val Walker: “Museums & Galleries Edinburgh’s social history collections celebrate our city, but they often act as a lens through which to view history unfolding across the world.

“We’re proud to care for and share with the public, objects that relate to major historical events. Our popular Lauriston Castle lecture series give us the chance to share these new discoveries with the public, as well as invite visiting speakers to shed new light on our collections.”