CANTOR, GEORG (1845-1918), German mathematician, was born at St. Petersburg (Leningrad) on March 3, 1845. He was educated at Zurich, Berlin and Gottingen. He was appointed tutor of mathematics in the University of Halle (Wittenberg) where in 1872 he became extraordinary professor and in 1879 ordinary professor of mathematics. Cantor's research work is marked by originality, and for some time the full value of it was not appreciated by his contemporaries. Mittag-Leffler, the editor of the Acta Matliematika, estimated Cantor's work at its true value, and published a number of his papers in his journal. Can tor's early work was on Fourier Series, and in extending the results obtained he developed a theory of irrational numbers which has since become classical. He developed an arithmetic of the infinite and a new branch of mathematics—the theory of sets of points. In 1895-97 he published papers on Bergriindung der transfiniten Mengenlehre which formed the basis of his well known work Contributions to the founding of the theory of trans finite numbers (London and Chicago, 1915). Cantor held hon orary degrees of the universities of Christiania (Oslo) and St. Andrews and was awarded the Sylvester Medal of the Royal Society in 1904.
He died on Jan. 6, 1918, at Halle.