Herbert Seifert
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Herbert Seifert (May 27, 1907 – October 1, 1996) was a German mathematician known for his work in topology. He was born in Bernstadt, but soon moved to Bautzen where he attended primary school at the Knabenbürgerschule, and secondary school at the Oberrealschule.
In 1926 Seifert entered the Technical University (Technische Hochschule) of Dresden. The next year he attended a course on topology given by William Threlfall. This would be the beginning both of his lifelong work in the subject and his friendship with Threlfall. In the year 1928-9 he visited Göttingen, where topologists such as Alexandrov and Hopf were working. In 1930 he received his doctorate. He then moved to Leipzig, where he received his second doctorate in 1932.
Seifert continued to collaborate with Threlfall, and in 1934 (the year Seifert received his habilitation) they published Lehrbuch Der Topologie. In 1938 they published Variationsrechnung Im Grossen.
In 1935, Seifert was summoned to a post at the University of Heidelberg, where he took a position vacated by the dismissal of a Jewish professor. During World War II he volunteered for a position at a Air Force research center, the Institut für Gasdynamik. After the war, Seifert was one of the few German professors whom the allies trusted during the period of denazification.
In the year 1948-9 Seifert visited the Institute for Advanced Study. On September 13, 1949, soon after returning to Germany, he married Katharina Korn.
Seifert retired in 1975. His students include Albrecht Dold and Dieter Puppe.