Alexander Grothendieck (; German: ['gro?tn?di?k]; French: [g??t?ndik]; 28 March 1928 – 13 November 2014) was a mathematician who became the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry.
His research extended the scope of the field and added elements of commutative algebra, homological algebra, sheaf theory and category theory to its foundations, while his so-called "relative" perspective led to revolutionary advances in many areas of pure mathematics.
He is considered by many to be the greatest mathematician of the 20th century.Born in Germany, Grothendieck was raised and lived primarily in France.
For much of his working life, however, he was, in effect, stateless.
As he consistently spelled his first name "Alexander" rather than "Alexandre" and his surname, taken from his mother, was the Dutch-like Low German "Grothendieck", he was sometimes mistakenly believed to be of Dutch origin.Grothendieck began his productive and public career as a mathematician in 1949.
He later became professor at the University of Montpellier and, while still producing relevant mathematical work, he withdrew from the mathematical community and devoted himself to political causes.
Soon after his formal retirement in 1988, he moved to the French village of Lasserre in Pyrenees, where he lived secluded, still working tirelessly on mathematics until his death in 2014.