Mathwar/Personlist/Weyl Hermann

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Hermann Weyl


 (* November 9th 1885 in Elmshorn, † December 9th 1955)

German mathematician. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland and then Princeton, he is associated with the University of Göttingen tradition of mathematics, represented by David Hilbert and Hermann Minkowski. His research has had major significance for theoretical physics as well as pure disciplines including number theory. He was one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century, and an important member of the Institute for Advanced Study during its early years.


Life

From 1930 to 1933 Weyl held the chair of mathematics at Göttingen where he was appointed to fill the vacancy which arose on Hilbert's retirement. Given different political circumstances it is likely that he would have remained in Göttingen for the rest of his career.

One also has to understand that Weyl's wife was Jewish, and this must have played a major role in their decision to leave Germany in 1933. Weyl remained at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton until he retired in 1952. His wife Helene died in 1948, and two years later he married the sculptor Ellen Lohnstein Bär from Zürich.



Sources

St.Andrews

Wikipedia