Georg Cantor: Personal Life/History

Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor

Born March 3, 1845 in St. Petersburg, Russian

Died: January 6, 1918 in Halle, Germany

Georg Cantor was born in 1845, his father was Georg Waldemar Cantor and mother was Maria Anna Böhm. Georg Waldemar was born in Denmark and was described to have a passion for culture and arts. Georg Waldemar was a successful merchant in St. Petersburg and then became a broker in the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange. Maria Anna was Russian with strong taste for music and the arts as well. Therefore, Georg became talented at a young age by becoming a superb violinist. Georg’s father was Protestant and his mother was Roman Catholic; Georg himself was brought up as Protestant. Georg was educated in his early days by a private tutor and attended a primary school in St. Petersburg. When Georg was eleven years old, his family moved to Germany. It was said that Georg held Russia with nostalgia in his heart and never really felt at ease in Germany, even though he would live the rest of his life there.

The Cantor family moved to Germany to escape the harsh winters which were taking a toll on Georg Waldemar’s health. As Cantor (Georg Cantor) was growing up in Germany, he attended many schools such as the Gymnasium in Wiesbaden and the  Realschule in Darmstadt. He graduated from Darmstadt in 1860 with excellent grades and exceptional skills in mathematics and trigonometry. In 1862, Cantor went to the Polytechnic of Zürich to study mathematics with his father’s permission. In June 1863, his studies were brought to a halt by his father’s death. Cantor then went to Berlin to study mathematics under Weierstrass, Kummer and Kronecker. In 1866 Cantor returned to Berlin after studying at a university to complete his dissertation on number theory, namely, aequationibus secundi gradus indeterminatis. Cantor received his doctorate in 1867. Immediately Cantor worked on his habilitation (an extra requirement for German professors to pass in order to teach at a university level) which was based on number theory. He had passed his habilitation in 1869 in Halle.

In 1874, Cantor became engaged to Vally Guttmann which he then married on August 9, 1874. For the next few years, Cantor began publishing papers and working with other mathematicians which will be posted about later when his findings in mathematics are discussed. During this time, at Halle, a replacement was needed to fill the chair as the old chairman, Heine had passed. Cantor drew up a list of names in which most people declined. To make matters worse, an old colleague of Cantor’s, Dedekind, ended their mathematical correspondence in 1882. At the end of May 1884, Cantor had his first recorded attack of depression. It was thought that his depression was based upon him worrying about his mathematical findings; with newfound medical knowledge, we now know that it was his depression magnifying his worries.

In 1886, Cantor bought a house on Händelstrasse and his last son was born at the end of the year making his family of six children complete.  During this time he had a few bouts of depression in which he shifted his focus from math to philosophy. Extra pressure was put on his life with the death of his mother and brother in October 1869 and January 1899, respectively. On December 16, 1899, Cantor’s youngest son passed away. From this time until the end of his life, Cantor fully struggled with depression. From 1899 onward, Cantor had to spend time in a sanatoria when his attacks with depression were at their worst. Cantor had to take leave of his college duties for 1910 and 1911. Cantor’s son fell ill in 1911 as Cantor’s health was declining as well. He was awarded with the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of St. Andrews but he was too ill to actually go get the degree. Cantor fully retired in 1913 and spent his final years ill and with little food because of the war conditions in Germany at the time. In June 1917, he entered a sanatorium for the last time of his life. Cantor would write to his wife asking to be let home until a heart attack claimed his life.

Cantor had a very interesting personal life with many individuals and mathematicians. His life seemed to be a roller coaster of emotions with good times and bad. However, Cantor was still able to get out some outstanding insights on mathematics such as set theory. Cantor’s insights will be explored through later blog posts as we continue to explore why we consider him a great mathematician.

On a final note, Hilbert described Cantor’s work as,” the finest product of mathematical genius and one of the supreme achievements of purely intellectual human activity.”

Source:

O'Connor, J.J and Robertson, E.F. (1998, October) Cantor biography. Retrieved from http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Cantor.html