In memoriam Hans-Jürgen Hoehnke

Hans-Jürgen Hoehnke
(October 27, 1925 -  June 10, 2007)
Founder of the East German “Fachtagung Algebra und Grenzgebiete” (Workshop
Algebra and Frontier Areas)

1946–1949: study of mathematics at Martin-Luther-Universität Halle (MLU)
1951: PhD in Halle under supervision by Heinrich Brandt, then mathematician in chemical industry
1952–1956: H. Brandt’s research assistent at MLU Halle
1956–1990: Institut für Reine Mathematik der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin

In 1990 he resigned spectacularly, indignant about the continued existence of the old structures.

Hans-Jürgen Hoehne was an inspiring and influential researcher. His role for
the developement of algebra in East Germany cannot be overestimated.

Despite of the international recognition for his scientific achievements, Hoehnke’s work was not sufficiently recognized by the Academy of Sciences (East Germany). Because of his straightforward attitude without lazy compromises, Hoehnke was always regarded as the “enfant terrible” of the institute. He never became a professor and was rehabilitated only after the German unification.
As early as the 1960s he had published on “Radicals in Universal Algebras” and opened the way for abstract (universal) algebra. In 1970 he organized a conference on “Algebraische Strukturen und ihre Anwendungen” (Algebraic Structures and their Applications), which was the first of an annual series on “Fachtagung Algebra und Grenzgebiete” (Workshop
Algebra and Frontier Areas).

At January 25, 2008 there took place a Colloquium in memoriam Hans-Jürgen Hoehnke who died June 10, 2007. This colloquium was organized in Halle (Germany) by the GEORG-CANTOR-VEREINIGUNG (Halle), and the universities in Potsdam (K. Denecke) and Dresden (R. Pöschel).
Some photos and contributions made during that colloquium can be found on the German version of this website.

For further information see also Wikipedia (Hans-Jürgen Hoehnke)