Friedrich Wilhelm Levi

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Friedrich Wilhelm Daniel Levi (February 6, 1888-January 1, 1966) was a German mathematician known for his work in abstract algebra, although he also worked in geometry, topology, set theory and analysis. According to Laszlo Fuchs and Rüduger Göbel, he is generally viewed as the father of mathematics in India.

Levi was born to Georg Levi and Emma Blum in Mulhouse, in Alsace-Lorraine, then part of the German Empire. He received his Ph.D. in 1911 under Heinrich Weber. He served his mandatory military service in the German Army in 1906-1907, and was called up again in 1914-1918 during World War I. He was discharged as a lieutenant. In 1917, he married Barbara Fitting, with whom he eventually had three children (Paul, Charlotte, Suzanne). He taught at the University of Leipzig between 1920 and 1935, when the Nazi government fired him because of his Jewish ancestry. In 1935 he accepted an offer at University of Calcutta, as head of the Mathematics Department. His mother and a sister remained in Germany and died in the Holocaust.

In 1948, Levi became professor of mathematics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India. In 1952, he returned to Germany and was a professor at the Free University of Berlin and later University of Freiburg. He died in Freiburg.

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Abelian Groups, vol. 146 in the series "Lecture Notes in Pure and Applied Mathematics". Chapter 1, "Friedrich Wilhelm Levi, 1888-1966", by Laszlo Fuchs and Rüduger Göbel, pp. 1-14.

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