Alexander Grothendieck
Alexander Grothendieck was a
German-born French mathematician who made significant contributions to
algebraic geometry. One of the pioneers in the field of modern algebraic
geometry, he added elements of commutative algebra, homological
algebra, sheaf theory and category theory to its foundations. Regarded
as one of the greatest pure mathematicians of the second half of the
20th century, he reformulated algebraic geometry so as to enable
geometric methods to be applied to problems in number theory. Born in
Germany, he moved to France with his mother during the World War II. His
early life was very difficult, and he spent several years in camps for
people displaced during the war. As a refugee child, he attended a
secondary school founded by local Protestant pacifists and anti-war
activists. He became fascinated with mathematics and received his higher
education from University of Montpellier and University of Nancy. Soon
he embarked on a very productive career as a mathematician and became a
leading expert in the theory of topological vector spaces. He was a
brilliant mathematician who made major contributions to algebraic
geometry, number theory, topology, category theory and complex analysis.
However, he abandoned his thriving academic career in the 1970s and
retired into obscurity a few years later.
Childhood & Early Life
- Alexander Grothendieck was born on 28 March 1928 in Berlin, Germany to anarchist parents. His mother’s name was Johanna "Hanka" Grothendieck and she was married to the journalist Johannes Raddatz at the time of Alexander’s birth. However, Alexander’s biological father was Alexander "Sascha" Schapiro (also known as Alexander Tanaroff). His mother’s marriage to Johannes Raddatz ended in 1929.
- He lived with his parents till 1933 when his father moved to Paris to evade Nazism. His mother too followed suit, leaving behind her little son in the care of Wilhelm Heydorn, a Lutheran pastor and teacher.
- Alexander went to France during the World War II in 1939 and lived with his mother in various camps for displaced people. They spent the later years of the war in the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, sheltered and hidden in local boarding houses. His father was killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942.
- He attended the Collège Cévenol (now known as the Le Collège-Lycée Cévenol International), a secondary school founded in 1938 by local Protestant pacifists and anti-war activists. It was at this school that he discovered his love for mathematics.
- After the war he studied mathematics at the University of Montpellier. Working on his own he rediscovered the Lebesgue measure, and conducted several independent studies over the next three years.
- In 1950 he moved to the University of Nancy where he wrote his dissertation under Laurent Schwartz and Jean Dieudonné in functional analysis and received his doctorate in 1953. By this time he had become a leading expert in the theory of topological vector spaces.
- From 1957 onwards, he shifted the focus of his studies to algebraic geometry and homological algebra.Major WorksThe most influential works of Alexander Grothendieck were in the field of algebraic geometry. His article, ‘Sur quelques points d'algèbre homologique’, also known as "Tôhoku paper" is considered to be one of his most important works. In this paper, he introduced abelian categories and applied their theory to show that sheaf cohomology can be defined as certain derived functors in this context.Personal Life & Legacy
- Alexander Grothendieck was once married to a woman called Mireille Dufour and had three children with her.
- He also had a son with his landlady during his time in Nancy and one child with a woman named Justine Skalba, with whom he lived in a commune in the early 1970s.
- He became increasingly reclusive during the later years of his life. In 1991, Grothendieck moved to a new address which he shared with only a few of his contacts.
- He died in the hospital of Saint-Girons, Ariège, on 13 November 2014, aged 86. At the time of his death, it was revealed that he had been living alone.
