| Børge Jessen | |
|---|---|
Jessen (right) with Werner Fenchel, Alexandrow, Herbert Busemann 1954
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| Born | 19 June 1907 |
| Died | 20 March 1993 |
| Fields | Mathematics |
Børge Christian Jessen (19 June 1907 – 20 March 1993)[1] was a Danish mathematician best known for his work in analysis, specifically on zeta function, and in geometry, specifically on Hilbert's third problem.
Jessen was born and grew up at Copenhagen. He attended the Skt. Jørgens Gymnasium where he was taught by the Hungarian mathematician Julius Pal.[2] He was a student of Harald Bohr at University of Copenhagen.[3] Supported by the Carlsberg Foundation he spent the Fall of 1929 in Szeged, Hungary where he attended lectures by Frigyes Riesz and Alfréd Haar. He then spent the winter semester at Göttingen taking lectures of David Hilbert and Edmund Landau. He then returned to Copenhagen and defended his dissertation on May 1, 1930, results of which were later published in Acta Mathematica. In the early 1930s he continued to frequently travel visiting Paris, Cambridge, England, Institute for Advanced Study, Yale and Harvard University in America.
Jessen was a professor of descriptive geometry at Technical University of Denmark from 1935 till 1942, when he moved back to the University of Copenhagen where he was professor from 1942-1977 when he retired. He was the president of the Carlsberg Foundation in 1955-1963[3] and one of the founders of the Hans Christian Ørsted Institute. He was the Secretary of the Interim Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union (1950–1952) and in September 1951 officially declared founding of the Union, with its first domicile in Copenhagen. He was also active at the Danish Mathematical Society. After his death, the society named an award in his honor (Børge Jessen Diploma Award).
In his private life his was married to Ellen (-1979), daughter of professor P.O. Pedersen, also cand. mag. in mathematics.[3]