Alexander Ostrowski
Encyclopedia
Alexander Markowich Ostrowski ' onMouseout='HidePop("34167")' href="/topics/Kiev">Kiev
, Russian Empire
– 20 November 1986, Montagnola
, Lugano
, Switzerland
), was a mathematician.
His father Mark having been a merchant, Alexander Ostrowski attended the Kiev College of Commerce, not a high school, and thus had an insufficient qualification to be admitted to university. However, his extraordinary talent did not remain undetected: Ostrowski's mentor Grave wrote to Landau
and Hensel
for help.
Subsequently Ostrowski began to study mathematics at Marburg University under Hensel
's supervision in 1912.
After World War I
had ended Ostrowski moved on to Göttingen
where he wrote his doctoral dissertation and was influenced by Hilbert
, Klein
and Landau.
In 1920, after having obtained his doctorate, Ostrowski moved to Hamburg
where he worked as Hecke
's assistant and finished his habilitation
in 1922.
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
– 20 November 1986, Montagnola
Montagnola
Montagnola is a small Swiss village in Collina d'Oro municipality. Located in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, it is close to the border between Switzerland and Italy. It looks over Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano upon it...
, Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), was a mathematician.
His father Mark having been a merchant, Alexander Ostrowski attended the Kiev College of Commerce, not a high school, and thus had an insufficient qualification to be admitted to university. However, his extraordinary talent did not remain undetected: Ostrowski's mentor Grave wrote to Landau
Edmund Landau
Edmund Georg Hermann Landau was a German Jewish mathematician who worked in the fields of number theory and complex analysis.-Biography:...
and Hensel
Kurt Hensel
Kurt Wilhelm Sebastian Hensel was a German mathematician born in Königsberg, Prussia.He was the son of the landowner and entrepreneur Sebastian Hensel, brother of the philosopher Paul Hensel, grandson of the composer Fanny Mendelssohn and the painter Wilhelm Hensel, and a descendant of the...
for help.
Subsequently Ostrowski began to study mathematics at Marburg University under Hensel
Kurt Hensel
Kurt Wilhelm Sebastian Hensel was a German mathematician born in Königsberg, Prussia.He was the son of the landowner and entrepreneur Sebastian Hensel, brother of the philosopher Paul Hensel, grandson of the composer Fanny Mendelssohn and the painter Wilhelm Hensel, and a descendant of the...
's supervision in 1912.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
had ended Ostrowski moved on to Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
where he wrote his doctoral dissertation and was influenced by Hilbert
David Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
, Klein
Felix Klein
Christian Felix Klein was a German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, function theory, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the connections between geometry and group theory...
and Landau.
In 1920, after having obtained his doctorate, Ostrowski moved to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
where he worked as Hecke
Erich Hecke
Erich Hecke was a German mathematician. He obtained his doctorate in Göttingen under the supervision of David Hilbert. Kurt Reidemeister and Heinrich Behnke were among his students....
's assistant and finished his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in 1922.