David Hilbert (1862 - 1943)

* 23 January 1862, † 14 February 1943

David Hilbert was born on 23 January 1862 in Wehlau, near Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Hilbert’s work in geometry had the greatest influence in that area after Euclid. A systematic study of the axioms of Euclidean geometry led Hilbert to propose 21 such axioms and he analysed their significance. He made contributions in many areas of mathematics and physics. David Hilbert died on 14 February 1943 in Göttingen, Germany.