Max Theodor Felix von Laue (9 October 1879 – 24 April 1960) was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. He was strongly opposed to Nazism. In addition to his scientific endeavors with contributions in optics, crystallography, quantum theory, superconductivity, and the Theory of Relativity, he had a number of administrative positions which advanced and guided German scientific research and development during four decades. He was instrumental in re-establishing and organizing German science after World War II. He was taken into custody in 1945 by the Allied Forces.