Solomon Lefschetz

Solomon Lefschetz (September 3, 1884 – October 5, 1972) was a Russian-born American mathematician renowned for his foundational contributions to algebraic topology and algebraic geometry, as well as his influential leadership in the mathematical community despite overcoming severe physical disability early in his career.

Born in Moscow to a Jewish family of Turkish origin, Lefschetz moved to Paris as a young child when his father, a textile importer, relocated for business. He received engineering training at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris from 1902 to 1905, after which he emigrated to the United States and briefly worked as an engineer at Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia and Westinghouse Electric in Pittsburgh. In 1907, at age 23, he suffered a tragic industrial accident at Westinghouse that resulted in the amputation of both hands, an event that profoundly shaped his life but did not deter his pivot to mathematics. He earned his Ph.D. from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1911 under dissertation advisor William E. Story, with a thesis on loci with given singularities. Lefschetz married Alice Berg Hayes, an English instructor, in 1913; the couple had no children and remained together until his death.

Solomon Lefschetz was born on September 3, 1884, in Moscow, Russia, to Jewish parents Alexander and Vera Lefschetz, who were Turkish citizens. Alexander worked as an importer, which necessitated frequent travel across Europe and the Middle East, including business in Persia. Shortly after Lefschetz's birth, the family relocated to Paris, France, where they established a stable base for the education of their children, including Lefschetz and his five brothers and one sister.