ProofWiki:Mathematicians/Sorted By Nation/Hungary

For more comprehensive information on the lives and works of mathematicians through the ages, see the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, created by John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson.

"The army of those who have made at least one definite contribution to mathematics as we know it soon becomes a mob as we look back over history; 6,000 or 8,000 names press forward for some word from us to preserve them from oblivion, and once the bolder leaders have been recognised it becomes largely a matter of arbitrary, illogical legislation to judge who of the clamouring multitude shall be permitted to survive and who be condemned to be forgotten."

Hungary

Gyula Kőnig

1849 – 1913

Gyula Kőnig (Hungarian name: Kőnig Gyula) was a Hungarian mathematician best known nowadays for his work in the embryonic field of set theory.

Was opposed to the work of Cantor and spent much effort trying to disprove his work.

He published under the name Julius König when he contributed to German publications, and this is the name he is best known by.

Father of Dénes Kőnig.
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Frigyes Riesz

1880 – 1956

Hungarian mathematician who developed the field of functional analysis.

Gave an elementary proof of the Mean Ergodic Theorem.

Elder brother of the mathematician Marcel Riesz.
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Dénes Kőnig

1884 – 1944

Dénes Kőnig was a Hungarian mathematician who was a pioneer of graph theory.

The son of Gyula Kőnig.
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Marcel Riesz

1886 – 1969

Hungarian mathematician who worked on analysis, number theory and abstract algebra, among other fields.
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George Pólya

1887 – 1985

George Pólya (Hungarian name: Pólya György) was a Hungarian mathematician best known nowadays for the books he wrote.
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Gábor Szegő

1895 – 1985

Gábor Szegő was a Hungarian mathematician best known nowadays for his collaborations with George Pólya.
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Steven Vajda

1901 – 1995

Hungarian mathematician whose main work was in game theory and mathematical programming.
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Paul Erdős

1913 – 1996

In Hungarian: Erdős Pál. Hungarian mathematician known for the vast quantity of work he did (approximately 1500 papers).

Spent his entire life travelling the world looking for interesting mathematical problems to solve.

Perhaps most famous for his widespread collaborations (about 500 collaborators), from which the concept of the Erdős Number emerged.
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Paul Richard Halmos

1916 – 2006

Hungarian-born mathematician who made fundamental advances in the areas of probability theory, statistics, operator theory, and functional analysis (in particular, Hilbert spaces).
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Steven Alexander Gaal

b. ca. 1923

Hungarian-American mathematician also known as Istvan Sandor Gal (or I.S. Gal).
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Gyula O. H. Katona

b. 1941

Hungarian mathematician best known for his work in the field of combinatorial set theory.

Proved the Erdős-Ko-Rado Theorem.

Father of Gyula Y. Katona, who works in similar fields.
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Gyula Y. Katona

b. 1965

Hungarian mathematician working mainly in graph theory.

The son of Gyula O. H. Katona.
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