Carl Ferdinand Degen

Carl Ferdinand Degen (1 November 1766 – 8 April 1825) was a Danish mathematician. His most important contributions were within number theory and he advised the young, aspiring Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel in a decisive way. Degen has received much of the credit for the introduction of more modern and advanced mathematics in the Danish-Norwegian school system.

He was born in Braunschweig in Germany, but the family moved to Copenhagen in 1771 when his father Johan Philip Degen got a position in the Royal Danish Orchestra. As a musician he had a low salary, but his son Carl Ferdinand received a fellowship so that he could go to school in Helsingør. He graduated from there in 1783 and continued at the University of Copenhagen. Instead of following the normal path of studies, the young Degen followed his own interests and read classical languages, philosophy, natural sciences and in particular mathematics. When the university in 1792 for the first time announced a prize essay contest in several different fields with an award of 40 riksdaler in each, Degen won the prize both in theology and in mathematics. He was fluent in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, was well-acquainted with Romance and Germanic languages and could read Russian and Polish. In this period he was tutor in mathematics for the young prince who later became king Christian VIII of Denmark. In 1798 Degen was made a Doctor of Philosophy based on a thesis on Kant's philosophy and was elected to the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1800.

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