Lasker

Emanuel Lasker

Born: 24 Dec 1868 in Berlinchen, Prussia
Died: 11 Jan 1941 in New York, USA

Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page
Lasker studied mathematics and philosophy at several German universities and was a student of Hilbert's receiving a doctorate in 1902. In 1905 he introduced the notion of a primary ideal, which corresponds to an irreducible variety, and plays a role similar to prime powers in the prime decomposition of an integer.

In 1894 Lasker became World Chess Champion and is considered by many to be the greatest chess player ever. He held the World Chess Championship until 1921.

When Hitler came to power he was forced to leave Germany and had to come out of retirement in chess to make enough money to live. Gareth Williams, writing in Chess Monthly, describes Lasker's last few years:

... the Laskers were forced out of their comfortable retirement. The regime confiscated the Laskers' Berlin appartment, their farm at Thyrow and their lifetime savings. Emanuel and Martha Lasker, in their old age, suddenly found themselves destitute, without money home or homeland.

In order to survive Lasker had once again to build a career in chess. The first tournament he was invited to after nine years retirement was Zurich. ..... Lasker was invited to Moscow in 1936 to participate in another great international tournament. ... The Laskers were encouraged to stay on in Moscow after the tournament and Dr Emanuel Lasker, mathematician, was invited to become a member of the Moscow Academy of Science. The offer was accepted and the Laskers took up permanent residence in Moscow. Emanuel became absorbed with his mathematical studies at Moscow Academy.

While on a visit to the USA in 1937 Martha Lasker took ill and they were advised not to travel. Lasker gave lectures and demonstrations over the next couple of years but, in 1939, during a lecture, he became dizzy. This was the start of an illness which slowly worsened until his death. Lasker, in addition to his algebraic results and his chess genius, also introduced a number of interesting mathematical games. For example he devised Laska, and produced an interesting modification to the rules of Nim.

References:

  1. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  2. Gareth Williams, Lasker's Last Stand, Chess Monthly 6 (1), (1996), 44-45. 
Previous (Chronologically) Next     Biographies Index

Previous ( Alphabetically) Next          Welcome page

History Topics Index              Famous curves index

Chronologies                           Birthplace Map

Mathematicians of the day  Anniversaries for the year

Search Form   Simple Search Form   Search Suggestions
JOC/EFR April 1996