ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Women Logicians of the Lvov-Warsaw School Known to Heinrich Scholz

• In Event: Histories of Mathematics

English Abstract

Heinrich Scholz (1884–1956), a prominent German professor of mathematical logic and founder of the Münster School of logic, maintained correspondence with twenty-three Polish logicians and mathematicians. Only two of them were women: Wanda Szmielew (a founder of the Warsaw School of the Foundations of Geometry) and Maria Kokoszyńska (a representative of the Lvov–Warsaw School).
Although their full correspondence with Scholz has not survived, other sources, including archival materials, allow us to reconstruct their productive and mutually beneficial academic collaboration. This collaboration is particularly significant, as it offers a shifting perspective on Scholz’s engagement with women academics.
Maria Kokoszyńska (1906–1981), a logician and philosopher of science, was recognised for her extensive participation in international conferences and her scholarly debates with the Vienna Circle and Alfred Tarski. Scholz shared her philosophical interest in the concept of truth, and the two met in person.
Wanda Szmielew (1918–1979), a mathematician recognised for her foundational work in set theory, algebra, and geometry, shared an unpublished manuscript with Scholz during World War II, which he reviewed.
Both Kokoszyńska and Szmielew successfully navigated the challenging academic landscape of the interwar and post-war periods in Poland.
My aim is to present:
1. The specific nature of the collaboration between Kokoszyńska, Scholz, and Szmielew, with particular attention to the role and involvement of Alfred Tarski.
2. The broader, intergenerational cooperation that characterised the relationship between the Polish and Münster schools of logic.

Author

• Gabriela Teresa Besler, University of silesia in Katowice