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Yutaka Taniyama
Yutaka Taniyama (谷山 豊, Taniyama Yutaka; 12 November 1927 – 17 November 1958) was a Japanese mathematician known for the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture.
Taniyama was born on 12 November 1927 in Kisai, a town in Saitama. He was the sixth of eight children born to a doctor's family. He studied at Urawa High School (present-day Saitama University) after graduating from Fudouoka Middle School. He suspended his college for two years due to a medical condition, but finally graduated in 1950. During Taniyama's college years, he aspired to be a mathematician after reading Teiji Takagi's work.
In 1958, Taniyama worked as an Associate Professor after years of assistant at the University of Tokyo. He also obtained his doctorate from the University in May. In October, Taniyama was engaged to be married to Misako Suzuki (鈴木美佐子, Suzuki Misako), while the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey offered him a position.
On 17 November 1958, Taniyama committed suicide by poisoning himself with gas. He left a note explaining how far he had progressed with his teaching duties, and apologizing to his colleagues for the trouble he was causing them. The first paragraph of his suicide note read (quoted in Shimura, 1989):
Until yesterday I had no definite intention of killing myself. But more than a few must have noticed that lately I have been tired both physically and mentally. As to the cause of my suicide, I don't quite understand it myself, but it is not the result of a particular incident, nor of a specific matter. Merely may I say, I am in the frame of mind that I lost confidence in my future. There may be someone to whom my suicide will be troubling or a blow to a certain degree. I sincerely hope that this incident will cast no dark shadow over the future of that person. At any rate, I cannot deny that this is a kind of betrayal, but please excuse it as my last act in my own way, as I have been doing my own way all my life.
Although his note is mostly enigmatic it does mention tiredness and a loss of confidence in his future. Taniyama's ideas had been criticized as unsubstantiated and his behavior had occasionally been deemed peculiar. Goro Shimura mentioned that he suffered from depression.
About a month later, Suzuki also committed suicide by gas, leaving a note reading: "We promised each other that no matter where we went, we would never be separated. Now that he is gone, I must go too in order to join him."
After Taniyama's death, Goro Shimura stated that:
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Yutaka Taniyama
Yutaka Taniyama (谷山 豊, Taniyama Yutaka; 12 November 1927 – 17 November 1958) was a Japanese mathematician known for the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture.
Taniyama was born on 12 November 1927 in Kisai, a town in Saitama. He was the sixth of eight children born to a doctor's family. He studied at Urawa High School (present-day Saitama University) after graduating from Fudouoka Middle School. He suspended his college for two years due to a medical condition, but finally graduated in 1950. During Taniyama's college years, he aspired to be a mathematician after reading Teiji Takagi's work.
In 1958, Taniyama worked as an Associate Professor after years of assistant at the University of Tokyo. He also obtained his doctorate from the University in May. In October, Taniyama was engaged to be married to Misako Suzuki (鈴木美佐子, Suzuki Misako), while the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey offered him a position.
On 17 November 1958, Taniyama committed suicide by poisoning himself with gas. He left a note explaining how far he had progressed with his teaching duties, and apologizing to his colleagues for the trouble he was causing them. The first paragraph of his suicide note read (quoted in Shimura, 1989):
Until yesterday I had no definite intention of killing myself. But more than a few must have noticed that lately I have been tired both physically and mentally. As to the cause of my suicide, I don't quite understand it myself, but it is not the result of a particular incident, nor of a specific matter. Merely may I say, I am in the frame of mind that I lost confidence in my future. There may be someone to whom my suicide will be troubling or a blow to a certain degree. I sincerely hope that this incident will cast no dark shadow over the future of that person. At any rate, I cannot deny that this is a kind of betrayal, but please excuse it as my last act in my own way, as I have been doing my own way all my life.
Although his note is mostly enigmatic it does mention tiredness and a loss of confidence in his future. Taniyama's ideas had been criticized as unsubstantiated and his behavior had occasionally been deemed peculiar. Goro Shimura mentioned that he suffered from depression.
About a month later, Suzuki also committed suicide by gas, leaving a note reading: "We promised each other that no matter where we went, we would never be separated. Now that he is gone, I must go too in order to join him."
After Taniyama's death, Goro Shimura stated that: