Robert Johann Maria König (11 April 1885,

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

– 9 July 1979,

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) was an Austrian mathematician. He studied from 1903 to 1907 at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, where he received his PhD under

David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental idea ...

with thesis ''Oszillationseigenschaften der Eigenfunktionen der Integralgleichung mit definitem Kern und das Jacobische Kriterium der Variationsrechnung''. In 1911 he earned his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

qualification at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

with thesis ''Konforme Abbildung der Oberfläche einer räumlichen Ecke''. He worked next in Leipzig as assistant and

privatdocent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

. In 1914 he was appointed

Ausserordentlicher Professor Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. Overview Appointment grades * (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'') * (''W3'') * (''W2'') * (''W2'', ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, where in 1921 he became professor ordinarius. In World War I, he was from 1916 to 1918 a member of the Deputy General Staff in Berlin. From 1919 to 1921 he declined three academic calls then accepted in 1922 a call to be

Ordentlicher Professor Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. Overview Appointment grades * (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'') * (''W3'') * (''W2'') * (''W2'', ...

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 ...

as successor to Leon Lichtenstein. From 1922 to 1926, he was assistant to Maximilian Krafft, with whom he wrote the textbook ''Elliptischen Funktionen''. In 1927 König was appointed Ordentlicher Professor and institute director at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

, where he replaced

Paul Koebe Paul Koebe (15 February 1882 – 6 August 1945) was a 20th-century German mathematician. His work dealt exclusively with the complex numbers, his most important results being on the uniformization of Riemann surfaces in a series of four papers in ...

. From 1934 to 1943, Friedrich Karl Schmidt and König represented pure mathematics in Jena. In 1934 the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig elected him as a full member. Because both Schmidt and König were opposed to Nazism, they were involved in disputes over the appointment of new, politically reliable mathematicians at the University of Jena in the Nazi era. After the end of World War II, König went to the

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. At Munich from 1947 to 1950, he was instrumental in offering professorships to

Constantin Carathéodory Constantin Carathéodory (; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greeks, Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant contributions to real and complex analysis, the calculus of variations, ...

and

Eberhard Hopf Eberhard Frederich Ferdinand Hopf (April 4, 1902 in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary – July 24, 1983 in Bloomington, Indiana, USA) was a German mathematician and astronomer, one of the founding fathers of ergodic theory and a pioneer of bifurcation the ...

. From 1950 to 1955, König was Ordentlicher Professor at Munich. In 1953, he was made a full member in the Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. His doctoral students include Helmut Röhrl and Karl-Heinrich Weise, with whom he wrote in 1951 a book on geodesy and cartography ''Mathematische Grundlagen der höheren Geodäsie und Kartographie''.

Sources

* Walter Streitfeld: ''Universitätsprofessor Dr. Robert König. Zum 80. Geburtstag des Mathematikers am 11. April 1965.'' In: ''Oberösterreichischer Kulturbericht.'' 1965, Folge 13

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Robert Johann Maria 20th-century Austrian mathematicians 1885 births 1979 deaths Scientists from Linz University of Vienna alumni University of Göttingen alumni Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Academic staff of the University of Münster Academic staff of the University of Jena Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Mathematicians from Austria-Hungary