Alexander Grothendieck

Vocation

German mathematician and the central figure behind the creation of the modern theory of algebraic geometry. Grothendieck was born in Berlin to anarchist parents: a Ukrainian father from an originally Hassidic family, Alexander "Sascha" Shapiro aka Tanaroff, and a mother from a German Protestant family, Johanna "Hanka" Grothendieck; both of his parents had broken away from their early backgrounds in their teens. At the time of his birth Grothendieck's mother was married to Johannes Raddatz, a German journalist, and his birthname was initially recorded as Alexander Raddatz. The marriage was dissolved in 1929 and Shapiro/Tanaroff acknowledged his paternity, but never married Hanka Grothendieck. Grothendieck lived with his parents until 1933 in Berlin. At the end of that year, Shapiro moved to Paris, and Hanka followed him the next year. They left Grothendieck in the care of Wilhelm Heydorn, a Lutheran Pastor and teacher in Hamburg where he went to school. During this time, his parents took part in the Spanish Civil War in supporting rather than fighting roles. Grothendieck speaks French, English and German. he died on 13 November 2014, at age 86. Link to Wikipedia biography