Ellsworth Hathaway Mosher (1910- 2003)
Memories of “Mo”
Ellsworth Mosher (“Mo”) was an American patent attorney whose work involved inventions as diverse as the atom bomb and the computer microchip. T. R. Reid, in The Chip – How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984) described Mo as “an elder statesman of the patent bar” and “a titan of the bar.”
Born in New York State of uncertain parentage but never particularly troubled by what little he learned as an adult about his mysterious origins, Mo’s life spanned most of the 20th century and represented bed-rock American values at their very highest. During World War II, his chemical engineering and patent law degrees drew the attention of the U. S. Naval officer in charge of patenting the atom bomb and, with wife and infant daughter in tow, Mo decamped to Berkeley, California, to work in the top-secret Manhattan Project. Back in civilian life after the war, Mo rose to the top of his profession as a patent lawyer in Washington, D. C. and was a skilled courtroom advocate for both corporate and individual clients, including four Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
An avid reader and collector of books on a wide range of topics, including alchemy and the history of science and technology, Mo was remembered by all who knew him for his powerful intelligence, erudition, enterprise, generosity, common sense, unflappability, loyalty, kindly wit, a rich, understated sense of humour, and, despite towering accomplishments, an endearing humbleness. Young people found him “…handsome, debonair…. delightful, fun,” as Philadelphia friends reported to him after he had hosted their teenagers during a Washington visit late in his life.
He was, as a friend described him, “…an accomplished lawyer of the highest degree…. a patriotic citizen and veteran…. a devoted and loving husband, father and grandfather… Mo was a man of humor. He had a unique ability not to take himself or others too seriously and find the levity that flows from life’s course of events….His curriculum vitae would be an inspiration to most of us.”
Drawing on the papers and correspondence Mo left behind after his death in 2003 and on her own and others’ memories, his daughter has written a comprehensive biography of a larger-than-life man. “Although Mo’s sense of fun was rarely far from the surface, his sense of decency was always predominant. His letters and choices of articles and cartoons to show to others reflected his own character and principles, his wry appreciation of the foibles of human beings, his love of academic pursuits, his joy of life,” she writes, and counts herself uniquely fortunate to have had this outstanding man for a father.
