Hans Zassenhaus

The renowned algebraist Hans Zassenhaus (May 28, 1912 November 21, 1991) was among the most prolifi mathemati ians of the twentieth ent!ry" #e was the a!thor of some 2$$ arti les and boo%s in the fields of gro!p theory, &ie algebras, n!mber theory, geometry of n!mbers, applied mathemati s and the history of mathemati s" 'assenha!s pioneered the !se of omp!ters as a resear h tool in mathemati s, parti !larly in algebrai n!mber theory, and wrote insightf!l papers on the tea hing of mathemati s, stressing that mathemati s sho!ld be ta!ght from the histori al point of view" #e ontrib!ted to the f!t!re of mathemati s by dire ting the dissertations of forty( one )h* st!dents" +s his own interests were so varied, #ans always o!ld thin% of problems that he genero!sly shared with his st!dents, whom he onsidered his olleag!es"

'assenha!s was born in ,oblen-(Moselweiss, .ermany" #is family moved to #amb!rg a few years after his birth" /n 190$, he entered the 1niversity of #amb!rg intent on st!dying atomi physi s, b!t inspired by his tea hers 2mil +rtin and 2ri h #e %e he hose mathemati s instead" /n his do toral dissertation of 1903, s!pervised by +rtin, 'assenha!s onsidered perm!tation gro!ps whose elements are determined by three points" Today these are %nown as 'assenha!s gro!ps" They form a part of the basis for the ontemporary development of finite gro!p theory" 2ven before ompleting his dissertation, he established himself as an o!tstanding mathemati ian by finding a new and bea!tif!l proof of the 4ordan(#5lder theorem" #is elebrated 6b!tterfly lemma7 !sed in the proof ever sin e has been %nown as the 'assenha!s &emma"

8rom 1903 to 1909 'assenha!s ta!ght at the 1niversity of :osto % while he prepared his boo% on gro!p theory, whi h he began when only eighteen" ;ased on +rtin<s le t!res, Lehrbruch der Gruppentheorie (190=) be ame an instant lassi " 'assenha!s was appointed +rtin<s assistant at #amb!rg in 1909, where he remained the ne>t fo!r years" #owever, +rtin, whose wife was 4ewish, was soon gone, a vi tim of the Na-is 190= 6New ?ffi ial<s &aw,7 that provided the means of removing 4ewish tea hers and those related to 4ews from the !niversities" 'assenha!s was !nder intense press!re to @oin the

Na-i party as a ondition of retaining his appointment" /nstead of @oining the Na-is, whom he despised, he resigned his position and @oined the .erman navy, wor%ing as a meteorologist thro!gho!t AA//" /n 1930, he was offered the hair of mathemati s at ;onn, b!t as%ed that the appointment be postponed !ntil the end of the war" +fter the war, he did not a ept the ;onn post, preferring that it go to someone who had lost a position !nder the Na-is" 8or a powerf!l first hand a o!nt of the str!ggles of the 'assenha!s family d!ring the Na-i period, one sho!ld read the a!tobiographi al a o!nt by #ans< yo!nger sister #iltg!nt 'assenha!s, Walls: Resisting the Third Reich One Womans Story (19=3)" +t seventeen, she defied the Na-is by ref!sing to give the 6#eil #itler7 sal!te in her s hool and d!ring the war !sed her position as a prison translator to help politi al prisoners by sm!ggling in medi ine, food, warm lothing, vitamins and other needed items" Bhe also too% letters from the prisoners to their families, and th!s s! eeding in raising their morale and saving their lives" #iltg!nt later be ame a member of the .erman resistan e movement" /n 19=3, she was nominated for the Nobel )ea e )ri-e"

'assenha!s ret!rned to #amb!rg and was appointed hairman of the department, and in 1939, he a epted a professorship at M .ill 1niversity in Montreal" #e stayed in Canada for ten years !ntil he answered the all of +rnold :oss to @oin the fa !lty at the 1niversity of Notre *ame in Bo!th ;end, /ndiana" +t that time he was also appointed the *ire tor of the Comp!ter Center" /n 1993, he followed :oss to The ?hio Btate 1niversity" 'assenha!s was appointed a resear h professor, a post he held !ntil retirement" ;esides ontrib!ting to :oss<s s!mmer programs for talented high s hool st!dents, 'assenha!s organi-ed the ?hio Btate(*enison Conferen e that has met biennially sin e 19=$" The onferen e onsists of three parallel sessions in ombinatori s, gro!p theory, and ring theory" 'assenha!s offi ially retired in 1982 b!t remained a tively atta hed to ?hio Btate !ntil his death in 1991"

There are many stories that 'assenha!s<s friends, olleag!es and st!dents told abo!t his brilliant naivetD" Aith the e> eption of the dreaded Na-is, 'assenha!s always ass!med that people were de ent, honest, and sin ere, and sometimes this belief was mista%en, ma%ing him appear naive" +fter AA//, the mathemati s department of the 1niversity of Notre *ame offered temporary ref!ge to vario!s 2!ropean mathemati ians" Many of these spent a year or so at Notre *ame to improve their 2nglish so they o!ld se !re permanent positions at better salaries at other !niversities" 8or many years it was @o%ed that the department was non(2nglish spea%ing" ?n e a prominent visiting .erman mathemati ian gave a le t!re at a olloE!i!m held for the fa !lty and st!dents" The tal% pro eeded well eno!gh !ntil at one point one of the Notre *ame fa !lty members, who not too long before had left .ermany for the 1nited Btates, @!mped !p and anno!n ed that the le t!rer had made a

mista%e" The visitor briefly e>amined what he had written on the bla %board and !rtly anno!n ed that he had not made a mista%e" #is hallenger insisted that there was indeed a mista%e" The visitor insisted @!st as vehemently that there was no mista%e" +t the beginning of the disagreement the two antagonists spo%e in heavy a ented 2nglish, b!t as their debate be ame more heated, they lapsed into .erman" 'assenha!s, who had been en@oying the s ene, immediately spr!ng to his feet, li %ed his heels together, and for the benefit of the non(.erman members of the a!dien e, translated the entire raging arg!ment"

'assenha!s was always a great favorite with st!dents, not be a!se he was a great tea her he most ertainly was not that, at least not in the lassroom, b!t he was so genero!s with his ideas and seemed gen!inely interested in his st!dents, something of whi h not every professor o!ld boast" /n 1990 'assenha!s ond! ted a seminar that was on the !tting edge of resear h" #e le t!red on theorems and theories that had not yet seen the inside of @o!rnals and most of his e>planations were s%et hy" /t was generally agreed among the members of the lass that the material was over their heads" /f they hinted to 'assenha!s that this was the ase, he wo!ld smile and !rge them to see the big pi t!re and not worry so m! h abo!t the details, whi h was E!ite good advi e"

?ne day 'assenha!s e> itedly anno!n ed that the lass was in for a rare treat" #e had invited the prominent .erman mathemati ian #elm!t Aielandt of the 1niversity of TFbingen, at the time a visiting professor at the 1niversity of Ais onsin, to le t!re to the lass" Ahen the day arrived, 'assenha!s was almost giddy with e> itement and delight" The delight was for his st!dentsG he had arranged for them to meet an o!tstanding mathemati ian and learn how he tho!ght" #e introd! ed Aielandt to the lass, doing the st!dents the honor of spea%ing ea h of o!r names" Aielandt as%ed 'assenha!s what the lass %new so he o!ld base his remar%s on material with whi h they were familiar" 'assenha!s anno!n ed with great sin erity that he had already e>plored Aielandt<s ideas that were soon to appear in a prestigio!s @o!rnal, so he o!ld start from that point and des ribe the resear h he was !rrently doing" Aielandt did as s!ggested and even tho!gh the st!dents< !nderstanding was not at the level their tea her gave them redit forG it was a great privilege to be in the presen e of two s! h prominent algebraists"

Quotation of the Day: 6;!t in those moments of depression, my father<s words flashed ba % into my memory, H#e who %nows the good and refrains from doing it, ommits a sin" Then all do!bts were lifted from meG and, as o!r wor% grew and

the hallenges be ame harder, / was in reasingly aware of a persistent t!rn of events that / at first too% to be l! %" /t was as if we were g!ided and arried forward by invisible hands" Ahenever we helped, help was given to !s"7 #iltg!nt 'assenha!s &ohmann