Käte Fenchel facts for kids

Käte Fenchel (born Käte Sperling) was an amazing German mathematician. She was born on December 21, 1905, and passed away on December 19, 1983. Käte Fenchel is remembered for her important work in a special area of math called "non-abelian groups." This is a type of math that studies how different things can be grouped together and how they behave when you combine them.

Käte Fenchel's Life

Käte Sperling was born in Berlin, Germany. Her father was a newspaper reporter, and her mother, Rusza Sperling, was a bookkeeper. From a young age, Käte was very smart. She learned to read and write much faster than other kids her age.

Because she was so bright, Käte was able to skip several grades in school. She also received special scholarships to attend private schools. Later, she went to the University of Berlin to study pure mathematics.

Challenges in Education

At the university, Käte faced some tough challenges. She experienced what is called gender discrimination. This means she was treated unfairly because she was a girl trying to study advanced math, which was not common for women at that time. Even though she was encouraged to write a big research paper called a thesis, she never officially earned her doctorate degree.

Because of these difficulties, Käte decided to focus on teaching math instead. After finishing her studies, she started working as a math teacher at a high school in Germany. She taught there from 1931 to 1933.

Escaping Persecution

However, things changed dramatically in Germany around 1933. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power. The Nazis were a political group who believed in very harmful ideas, including hating Jewish people. Because Käte was Jewish, she lost her teaching job. Another Jewish mathematician named Werner Fenchel also lost his job in a similar way.

Käte and Werner Fenchel both arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark, in November 1933. They got married there in December of the same year. In December 1938, Käte's mother was also able to leave Germany and join them in Denmark. In 1940, Käte and Werner had a son.

While living in Denmark, Käte helped other German Jewish people escape the persecution they faced from the Nazis. But in 1943, the Nazi forces invaded Denmark too. So, Käte, her husband, their young son, and Käte's mother had to leave again. They joined thousands of other refugees and fled to Sweden for safety.

Return to Denmark

After World War II ended and Denmark was freed from Nazi control, the Fenchel family returned to Copenhagen. Käte later worked as a part-time lecturer at Aarhus University in Denmark, from 1965 to 1970.

Käte Fenchel passed away on December 19, 1983. She was a brave and brilliant mathematician who overcame many challenges in her life.