Ernst Zermelo - Life

Life

He graduated from Berlin's Luisenstädtisches Gymnasium in 1889. He then studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the universities of Berlin, Halle and Freiburg. He finished his doctorate in 1894 at the University of Berlin, awarded for a dissertation on the calculus of variations (Untersuchungen zur Variationsrechnung). Zermelo remained at the University of Berlin, where he was appointed assistant to Planck, under whose guidance he began to study hydrodynamics. In 1897, Zermelo went to Göttingen, at that time the leading centre for mathematical research in the world, where he completed his habilitation thesis in 1899.

In 1910, Zermelo left Göttingen upon being appointed to the chair of mathematics at Zurich University, which he resigned in 1916. He was appointed to an honorary chair at Freiburg im Breisgau in 1926, which he resigned in 1935 because he disapproved of Hitler's regime. At the end of World War II and at his request, Zermelo was reinstated to his honorary position in Freiburg.

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