Peter Thullen (24 August 1907 in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

– 24 June 1996 in

Lonay Lonay is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Morges. History Lonay is first mentioned around 1152-60 as ''Lonna''. In 1177 it was mentioned as ''Losnay''. Geography Lonay has an area, , of . Of this area, ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collect ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Academic career

He studied under

Heinrich Behnke Heinrich Adolph Louis Behnke (Horn, 9 October 1898 – Münster, 10 October 1979) was a German mathematician and rector at the University of Münster. Life and career He was born into a Lutheran family in Horn, a suburb of Hamburg. He att ...

at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over ...

and received his doctoral degree in 1931 at the age of 23. He is noted for work on

several complex variables The theory of functions of several complex variables is the branch of mathematics dealing with complex-valued functions. The name of the field dealing with the properties of function of several complex variables is called several complex variable ...

. One of his achievements is a classification of 2-dimensional bounded

Reinhardt domain The theory of functions of several complex variables is the branch of mathematics dealing with complex-valued functions. The name of the field dealing with the properties of function of several complex variables is called several complex variable ...

s. He obtained a subsequent research fellowship with Professor

Francesco Severi Francesco Severi (13 April 1879 – 8 December 1961) was an Italian mathematician. He was the chair of the committee on Fields Medal on 1936, at the first delivery. Severi was born in Arezzo, Italy. He is famous for his contributions to algeb ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to explore how algebraic geometry could be integrated into the theory of functions of several complex variables.

International career

In 1952 he left Latin America for Switzerland where he worked at the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

. After he retired from the ILO, he went on to teach at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...

. He considered returning to Germany at times, but had difficulty securing a position and regaining German citizenship.

Personal life

Peter Thullen was an enthusiastic

Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with n ...

and active in the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

youth movement and opposed the rise of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. He at first studied in Italy on a grant, and was able to observe developments in Germany from abroad. He decided he would not return to Germany so long as

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

remained in power. After marriage, he moved to

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

with his wife. At the time he left for Ecuador he did not even know where Quito was located. His five children were all born during his stay in Ecuador. He would later disapprove of the post-war regime of

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...

as he felt it retained some of the "ills" of German nationalism.Mathematicians under the Nazis By Sanford L. Segal, pgs 200, 201, 203, 461
/ref>

References

* * 1907 births 1996 deaths Academic staff of the University of Fribourg International Labour Organization people Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland German Roman Catholics 20th-century German mathematicians German officials of the United Nations Ecuadorian officials of the United Nations University of Münster alumni {{Ecuador-bio-stub