Peter Thullen (24 August 1907 in

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

– 24 June 1996 in Lonay) was a German/ Ecuadorian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

Academic career

He studied under Heinrich Behnke at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

and received his doctoral degree in 1931 at the age of 23. He is noted for work on

several complex variables The theory of functions of several complex variables is the branch of mathematics dealing with functions defined on the complex coordinate space \mathbb C^n, that is, -tuples of complex numbers. The name of the field dealing with the properties ...

. One of his achievements is a classification of 2-dimensional bounded Reinhardt domains. He obtained a subsequent research fellowship with Professor

Francesco Severi Francesco Severi (13 April 1879 – 8 December 1961) was an Italian mathematician. He was the chair of the committee on Fields Medal in 1936, at the first delivery. Severi was born in Arezzo, Italy. He is famous for his contributions to algebra ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to explore how algebraic geometry could be integrated into the theory of functions of several complex variables.

International career

In 1952 he left Latin America for Switzerland where he worked at the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

. After he retired from the ILO, he went on to teach at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

. He considered returning to Germany at times, but had difficulty securing a position and regaining German citizenship.

Personal life

Peter Thullen was an enthusiastic

Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with na ...

and active in the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

youth movement and opposed the rise of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. He at first studied in Italy on a grant, and was able to observe developments in Germany from abroad. He decided he would not return to Germany so long as

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

remained in power. After marriage, he moved to

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

with his wife. At the time he left for Ecuador he did not even know where Quito was located. His five children were all born during his stay in Ecuador. He would later disapprove of the post-war regime of

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

as he felt it retained some of the "ills" of German nationalism.Mathematicians under the Nazis By Sanford L. Segal, pgs 200, 201, 203, 461
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References

* * 1907 births 1996 deaths Academic staff of the University of Fribourg International Labour Organization people Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland German Roman Catholics 20th-century German mathematicians German officials of the United Nations Ecuadorian officials of the United Nations University of Münster alumni {{Ecuador-bio-stub