Emil Weyr (31 August / 1 September 1848 – 25 January 1894) was an Austrian-Czech mathematician, known for his numerous publications on

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

. Born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Weyr attended the

Prague Polytechnic Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU, cs, České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT) is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. It ...

, where he was taught by Heinrich Durège and Otto Wilhelm Fiedler.

Biography

Early life

The birthdate of Weyr is disputed. Parish records indicate that Emil was born in

, on 1 September 1848, whereas his family believed he was born on 31 August 1848 and celebrated his birthday on this date. His parents were František Weyr and Marie Rumplova. František was a mathematics professor at a secondary school Emil would later attend. Emil's parents had ten children, five sons and five daughters. One of his brothers Eduard Weyr, was also a mathematician.

Early Education

Emil attended Our Lady of the Snows primary school in 1854. Following this he would study at the German secondary school on Mikulandská street in Prague from 1859. By this age Emil was already fascinated by maths through his father. In 1865 he would start attending the Prague Polytechnic, where he would study for three years. He was taught by O.W.Fiedler. Weyr was assistant to the mathematics chair Professor H.Durège in 1868. The following year Emil earned his Doctorate in Philosophy at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( , ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was a Moravian-born Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the physics of shock waves. The ratio of one's speed to that of sound is named the Mach ...

suggested to Emil that he should make a request for

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

at the Prague University. On May 3, 1870, he was given the senior role in the geometry faculty of the Prague Polytechnic. Here he would attain his Ph.D. and publish over 30 papers over the period from 1869 to 1870.

Trip to Italy

Emil had planned to travel to Paris to undertake a study break during the autumn of 1870, but due to the German-French War the destination for this venture changed to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. On November 7, he travelled by train to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, then

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

where he stayed for ten days before arriving in Milan on November 17. In February he would attend lectures given by

Luigi Cremona Antonio Luigi Gaudenzio Giuseppe Cremona (7 December 1830 – 10 June 1903) was an Italian mathematician. His life was devoted to the study of geometry and reforming advanced mathematical teaching in Italy. He worked on algebraic curves and alge ...

and

Felice Casorati Felice Casorati (December 4, 1883 – March 1, 1963) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and printmaker. The paintings for which he is most noted include figure compositions, portraits and still lifes, which are often distinguished by unusua ...

. Later this year he got the chance to put his studies on hold to travel around Italy and visit the different universities and meet fellow colleagues, some of whom he would stay in touch with. His relationship with Luigi Cremona emphasises how significant this trip was for Weyr, highlighted by their constant letters to each other in the twenty-one-year period following their first meeting. Emil originally wrote letters to Cremona as one would talk to a mentor, in a position of less prestige. But as the years went on the communication between the two became academic in tone. In the following years he would publish numerous papers in Italian (with help from his Italian colleagues) which would further highlights the impact of this trip to Italy.

Life in Education

On February 6,1870, Weyr was inducted into the Union of Czech Mathematicians, which he would be given the chairman role of on July 7, 1872. In this role he created a library of scientific resources and would participate in events centred on publishing. Emil was made the

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

of maths at the Prague Polytechnic in 1871, where he would begin to lecture at the university. He also published the textbook 'Foundations of Higher Geometry' in 1871 with his brother Edmund. Weyr would also translate some of Cremona’s publications. He would again travel to Italy in April 1873 to discuss some of these with Cremona. He was made a full professor at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

on September 26 1875. Weyr would rarely publish in Czech after he left for Austria. In the late 1870s and throughout the 80s Emil would publish many different books on geometry. He would lead the geometry school in Vienna for the entire duration of his stay. Weyr married Marie Waniek in Vienna 1877. They had three children together: František, Jindřich and Marie. František went on to be a lawyer. In 1890 Weyr and

Gustav Ritter von Escherich Gustav Ritter von Escherich (1 June 1849 – 28 January 1935) was an Austrian mathematician. Biography Born in Mantua, he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Vienna. From 1876 to 1879 he was professor at the University of Graz. ...

created the mathematical journal '' Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik'',the first few editions of which would include his brother Eduard's work''.'' Weyr died on 25 January 1894 and was buried in a family grave in Olšany in Prague on 30 January.

Selected publications

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References

External links

* * 1848 births 1894 deaths 19th-century Czech people Austro-Hungarian mathematicians Mathematicians from Prague Czech Technical University in Prague alumni {{europe-mathematician-stub