Alexander Grothendieck
Alexander GrothendieckBorn: March 28, 1928Alma mater: • University of Montpellier• University of NancyNotable awards: • Fields Medal (1966)• Crafoord Prize (1988, declined)
Name: Alexander GrothendieckBorn: March 28, 1928 Born in Germany, BerlinDeath: Still LivingFather: Alexander Shapiro (a.k.a. Alexander Tanaroff, killed at Auschvitz)Mother: Hanka GrothendieckSister: Maidi Grothendieck (half-sister, from mother's first marriage)Wife: Mireille Dufour (div., three children)Wife: Justine Skalba (one child)
Growing up background: Alexander Grothendieck was born in Berlin to anarchist parents: a Ukrainian father from an ultimately Hassidic family, Alexander "Sascha" Shapiro aka Tanaroff, and a mother from a German Protestant family, Johanna "Hanka" Grothendieck; both of his parents had broken away from their early backgrounds in their teens.[8] At the time of his birth Grothendieck's mother was married to Johannes Raddatz, a German journalist, and his birthname was initially recorded as Alexander Raddatz. The marriage was dissolved in 1929 and Shapiro/Tanaroff acknowledged his paternity, but never married Hanka Grothendieck.[8]
Grothendieck lived with his parents until 1933 in Berlin. At the end of that year, Shapiro moved to Paris, and Hanka followed him the next year. They left Grothendieck in the care of Wilhelm Heydorn, a Lutheran Pastor and teacher[9] in Hamburg where he went to school. During this time, his parents fought in the Spanish Civil War.
Education Math:Number theory, geometry, topology, functional (and topological) analysis, but especially in the fields of algebraic geometry and category theory, both of which he revolutionized.
He developed the theory of sheafs, invented the theory of schemes, and much more. He is most famous for his methods to unify different branches of mathematics, for example using algebraic geometry in number theory.
Topics other than math:In the early 1970s, Grothendieck began working less on mathematics and more on political causes including environmentalism and nuclear disarmament.
He spent several years living in an isolated commune, then converted to Buddhism, then embraced a mystic form of Christianity, then followed extreme Catholic teachings that had him subsisting solely on the bread and wine of the Holy Communion. In the late 1980s he went on an extended fast that nearly killed him, ostensibly in an effort to force God to reveal Himself.
Award: Fields Medal 1996, Crafoord Prize (1988, declined)
Universities: High School: College Cévénol, Le Chambon, France University: PhD Mathematics, University of Montpellier (1948) Scholar: Mathematics, École Normale Supérieure (1948-49) Teacher: Mathematics, Nance University (1949-53) Teacher: Mathematics, University of São Paulo (1953-55) Teacher: Mathematics, University of Kansas (1955-56) Professor: Algebraic Geometry, Institute des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (1959-71) Professor: Mathematics, Collége de France (1971-73) Professor: Mathematics, Orsay University (1972-73) Professor: Mathematics, Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc (1973-75) Professor: Mathematics, University of Montpellier (1984-88) Professor: Mathematics, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (1984-88)
End of Life:Grothendieck's radical political philosophy led him to retire from public life while still in his prime, but he is still considered one of the most brilliant mathematicians ever.
Work Cited
site: Greatest Mathematicians of All Time http://fabpedigree.com/james/mathmen.htm#Grothendieck
site: NNDN tracking the entire world Profile and Bibliography or Alexander Grothendieck.http://www.nndb.com/people/593/000203981/
site: Wikipedia Encyclopediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Grothendieck
Site: Alexander Grothendieck Biographyhttp://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Grothendieck.html
Site: Planet Mathhttp://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/AlexanderGrothendieck.html
Images:http://vivisheksudhir.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/alexander_grothendieck.jpgwww.learn-math.info/.../ Grothendieck_2.jpegimg.over-blog.com/.../ grothendieck-artikel.jpg
