CRELLE, AUGUST LEOPOLD German mathematician, was born at Eichwerder, Wriezen, on March 17, 1780. Crelle was a man of many interests and great organizing ability, and worked for the advancement of the exact sciences.
By profession he was an "Oberbaurat," but was interested in educational matters, and in 1828 he left the technical institute in which he was employed to take up service with the ministry of ecclesiastical affairs and public education. He was the author of many mathematical papers, mostly unimportant; his great serv ice to mathematics was the founding of the Journal fur die reine and ungewandte Mathematik, now known as Crelle's Journal. Abel and Steiner encouraged Crelle in this venture, and were the chief contributors to the first numbers ; Jacobi was another early contributor. In 1829 Crelle started the Journal fur Baukunst. The Berlin-Potsdam railway was built in 1838-40 according to his plans. Crelle died on Oct. 6, 1855, at Berlin.