Mathwar/Mahler Kurt
Kurt Mahler
Kurt Mahler (* July 26th in Krefeld, † February 25th 1988in Canberra)
Life
During 1940 he was interned as "an enemy alien" for three months and spent some time in the same camp on the Isle of Man as Kurt Hirsch. These three years had been highly productive on the mathematical side, but very difficult financially for, despite two short-term temporary assistant lectureships and some funds from a fellowship, he mainly had to support himself from his savings. He had learnt Chinese in 1939 in preparation for getting a post in China, but the onset of the war prevented this being realised. Returning to Manchester after his period of internment, he was appointed as an assistant lecturer in 1941 (his first permanent post) and remained there until 1962. His outstanding mathematical achievements led to steady promotion: Lecturer in 1944, Senior Lecturer in 1947, Reader in 1949, and a personal professorship in 1952. It is worth noting that his personal professorship was the first in Manchester, and was specially created to acknowledge his eminent status.