Erika Pannwitz facts for kids
Erika Pannwitz was a smart German mathematician. She was born in Hohenlychen, Germany, on May 26, 1904. She passed away in Berlin on November 25, 1975. Erika studied geometric topology, a special part of math. During World War II, she used her math skills to break secret codes. After the war, she became a very important editor for a math journal called Zentralblatt MATH.
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Her Early Life and Education
Erika Pannwitz went to the Pannwitz Outdoor School. She studied there until 10th grade. In 1922, she finished high school in Berlin.
She loved math and decided to study it at university. She went to universities in Berlin, Freiburg, and Göttingen. In 1927, she passed her teaching exams. She was ready to teach math, physics, and chemistry.
Her Amazing Math Work
In 1931, Erika earned her PhD in math. This is the highest university degree. She got it from Friedrich Wilhelms University. Her main teachers were Heinz Hopf and Erhard Schmidt.
Her PhD paper was about knots and loops. It was called Eine elementargeometrische Eigenschaft von Verschlingungen und Knoten. This means "An elementary geometric property of entanglements and knots."
What Was Her Thesis About?
Erika's paper was very special. It was published in a famous math magazine. Her teachers said it was an "outstanding" piece of work.
She proved something cool about knot theory. Imagine a knot, like one you tie in a shoelace. She showed that almost every knot has a "quadrisecant." A quadrisecant is a straight line that touches the knot in four different places.
Her teachers were very impressed. One teacher, Heinz Hopf, wrote eight pages of comments! He said she solved a hard problem all by herself. He also said she showed "deep insight" into difficult math.
Her other teacher, Erhard Schmidt, agreed. He said that topology (the study of shapes and spaces) is a very hard area of math. He believed Erika's work added many "extraordinarily beautiful theorems" to this field.
Working During Wartime
In 1930, Erika started working as an editor. She helped with a math yearbook.
From 1940 to 1945, a big war was happening. This was World War II. Erika used her math skills to help her country. She worked as a cryptanalyst. This means she helped to break secret codes. She worked for the German Foreign Office's Signal Intelligence Agency.
Her Career After the War
After the war ended, Erika worked for a short time at Marburg University. Then, in 1946, she went back to Berlin. She started working as an editor for Zentralblatt für Mathematik. This is a very important math journal.
In 1956, the main editor passed away. Erika Pannwitz then became the new editor-in-chief. This was a very important job in the math world.
Challenges in Berlin
Life in Berlin became difficult, especially after 1961. The Berlin Wall was built. Erika lived in West Berlin, but her office was in East Berlin. She had to pass through checkpoints every day to get to work.
In East Germany, people had to retire at age 60. Erika reached this age in 1964. From 1964 until she fully retired in 1969, she worked at a Zentralblatt office in West Berlin.
Even though Erika wrote an amazing PhD paper, she never had a regular teaching job at a university. The reasons for this are not fully known.
