The career of Louis Kollros spanned five decades of Swiss mathematical research and instruction, bridging the gap between late nineteenth-century foundations and the mid-twentieth-century editorial projects of the Steiner-Schläfli committee. Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds on 7 May 1878, he cultivated a specialized academic profile that combined descriptive geometry, projective geometry, and the careful historical documentation of nineteenth-century scholarship.
Early Education and Influences
Kollros began his formal studies in 1896 at the Zurich Polytechnikum, now known as ETH Zurich, where he focused on mathematics and physics. During these formative years, his cohort included Albert Einstein and Marcel Grossmann. After his graduation in 1900, he returned to his birthplace, La Chaux-de-Fonds, to spend nine years teaching mathematics within the secondary school system. His academic trajectory resumed in Göttingen, where he studied under Hermann Minkowski and David Hilbert between 1903 and 1909. In 1905, he completed his doctoral requirements at the University of Zurich, producing the thesis titled Un algorithme pour l'approximation simultaneé de deux grandeurs under the guidance of Minkowski.
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Upon returning to academia, Kollros held a privat-docent position at the University of Neuchâtel from 1904 to 1909. His primary professional impact occurred at ETH Zurich, where he occupied the francophone chair of descriptive and Euclidean geometry from 1909 until his retirement in 1948. Throughout this tenure, he focused on teaching and writing, contributing to the field with works such as his 1918 volume Géométrie descriptive, published by Orell Füssli, and his 1946 text Cours de géométrie projective. Ferdinand Gonseth stands among his documented doctoral students.
Editorial and Historical Contributions
Beyond his teaching duties, Kollros served as the president of the Swiss Mathematical Society during 1940 and 1941, later becoming an honorary member in 1958. His focus shifted toward the history of mathematics through his leadership of the Steiner-Schläfli committee. In this capacity, he co-edited the three-volume collected works of Ludwig Schläfli, released between 1950 and 1956. His bibliography also features short biographical monographs on Évariste Galois, published in 1949, and Jakob Steiner, published in 1947, both issued through the Birkhäuser Verlag supplements to the journal Elemente der Mathematik.
Fast facts
- Born: 7 May 1878, La Chaux-de-Fonds
- Died: 19 June 1959, Zurich
- Nationality: Swiss
- Doctoral Advisor: Hermann Minkowski
- Primary Affiliation: ETH Zurich
- Professional Roles: Mathematician, historian of mathematics, university teacher
- Selected Work: Un algorithme pour l'approximation simultaneé de deux grandeurs (1905)
Questions readers ask
What subjects did Louis Kollros teach?
He focused on descriptive geometry, Euclidean geometry, and projective geometry.
What was his role regarding Ludwig Schläfli?
Kollros chaired the Steiner-Schläfli committee and co-edited three volumes of Schläfli's collected works.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of Neuchâtel and ETH Zurich
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