Constantin Carathéodory

Constantin Carathéodory
Constantin Carathéodory
Born	(1873-09-13)13 September 1873 Berlin, German Empire
Died	2 February 1950(1950-02-02) (aged 76) Munich, West Germany
Nationality	Greek
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	University of Munich Ionian University of Smyrna
Alma mater	University of Berlin University of Göttingen
Doctoral advisor	Hermann Minkowski
Doctoral students	Paul Finsler Hans Rademacher Georg Aumann Hermann Boerner Ernst Peschl Hans Rügemer Wladimir Seidel Nazım Terzioğlu
Known for	Carathéodory's extension theorem Carathéodory conjecture

Constantin Carathéodory (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Καραθεοδωρή Konstantinos Karatheodori; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant contributions to the theory of functions of a real variable, the calculus of variations, and measure theory. His work also includes important results in conformal representations and in the theory of boundary correspondence. In 1909, Carathéodory pioneered the Axiomatic Formulation of Thermodynamics along a purely geometrical approach.

Constantin Carathéodory was born in Berlin to Greek parents and grew up in Brussels. His father Stephanos, a lawyer, served as the Ottoman ambassador to Belgium, St. Petersburg and Berlin. His mother, Despina, née Petrokokkinos, was from the island of Chios. The Carathéodory family, originally from Bosnochori or Vyssa, was well established and respected in Constantinople, and its members held many important governmental positions.

The Carathéodory family spent 1874–75 in Constantinople (now Istanbul), where Constantin's paternal grandfather lived, while his father Stephanos was on leave. Then in 1875 they went to Brussels when Stephanos was appointed there as Ottoman Ambassador. In Brussels, Constantin's younger sister Julia was born. The year 1879 was a tragic one for the family since Constantin's paternal grandfather died in that year, but much more tragically, Constantin's mother Despina died of pneumonia in Cannes. Constantin's maternal grandmother took on the task of bringing up Constantin and Julia in his father's home in Belgium. They employed a German maid who taught the children to speak German. Constantin was already bilingual in French and Greek by this time.

Constantin began his formal schooling at a private school in Vanderstock in 1881. He left after two years and then spent time with his father on a visit to Berlin, and also spent the winters of 1883–84 and 1884–85 on the Italian Riviera. Back in Brussels in 1885 he attended a grammar school for a year where he first began to become interested in mathematics. In 1886 he entered the high school Athénée Royal d'Ixelles and studied there until his graduation in 1891. Twice during his time at this school Constantin won a prize as the best mathematics student in Belgium.