Bernt Michael Holmboe

Bernt Michael Holmboe
Bernt Michael Holmboe
Born	(1795-03-23)23 March 1795 Vang, Norway
Died	28 March 1850(1850-03-28) (aged 55) Christiania, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Christiania Cathedral School (1818-1826) Royal Frederick University (1826-1850)
Alma mater	Royal Frederick University (partly autodidact)
Known for	Tutor of Niels Henrik Abel Influential textbooks

Bernt Michael Holmboe (23 March 1795 – 28 March 1850) was a Norwegian mathematician. He was home-tutored from an early age, and was not enrolled in school until 1810. Following a short period at the Royal Frederick University, which included a stint as assistant to Christopher Hansteen, Holmboe was hired as a mathematics teacher at the Christiania Cathedral School in 1818, where he met the future renowned mathematician Niels Henrik Abel. Holmboe's lasting impact on mathematics worldwide has been said to be his tutoring of Abel, both in school and privately. The two became friends and remained so until Abel's early death. Holmboe moved to the Royal Frederick University in 1826, where he worked until his own death in 1850.

Holmboe's significant impact on mathematics in the fledgling Norway was his textbook in two volumes for secondary schools. It was widely used, but faced competition from Christopher Hansteen's alternative offering, sparking what may have been Norway's first debate about school textbooks.

Bernt Michael Holmboe was born in Vang in 1795, the son of vicar Jens Holmboe (1746–1823) and his wife Cathrine Holst (1763–1823). He grew up in Eidsberg with his nine siblings, and was the elder brother of noted philologist Christopher Andreas Holmboe. Holmboe was homeschooled from an early age, but was sent to the Christiania Cathedral School in 1810 to complete his secondary education. There he undertook extracurricular studies in mathematics. He enrolled as a student at the Royal Frederick University in 1814, a turbulent year in Norwegian history. Norway had been a province of Denmark since 1397, but had come under Swedish control in the January 1814 Treaty of Kiel. Following Norway's declaration of independence in the Constitution of 17 May, Sweden responded by waging a military campaign against Norway during the summer of 1814. Holmboe was a spokesperson for the student group opposed to the presence of Swedish troops in the country. Any outspokenness from the student community was highly visible at the time, as the university had only seventeen students as of 1813, its year of establishment.