Editing Thomas Joannes Stieltjes (section)

==Biography==
Stieltjes was born in [[Zwolle]] on 29 December 1856. His father (who had the same first names) was a civil engineer and politician. Stieltjes Sr. was responsible for the construction of various [[harbour]]s around [[Rotterdam]], and also seated in the [[Dutch parliament]]. Stieltjes Jr. went to university at the Polytechnical School in [[Delft]] in 1873. Instead of attending lectures, he spent his student years reading the works of [[Carl Friederich Gauss|Gauss]] and [[Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi|Jacobi]] — the consequence of this being he failed his examinations. There were two further failures (in 1875 and 1876), and his father despaired. His father was friends with [[H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen]] (who was the director of [[Leiden University]]), and Stieltjes Jr. was able to get a job as an assistant at [[Leiden Observatory]].

Soon afterwards, Stieltjes began a correspondence with [[Charles Hermite]] which lasted for the rest of his life.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hermite |first1=Charles |url=http://archive.org/details/correspondancedh01hermuoft |title=Correspondance d'Hermite et de Stieltjes. Publiée par les soins de B. Baillaud [et] H. Bouget, avec une préf. de Émile Picard |last2=Baillaud |first2=Benjamin |last3=Bourget |first3=H. |last4=Stieltjes |first4=Thomas Jan |date=1905 |publisher=Paris Gauthier-Villars |others=Gerstein - University of Toronto}}</ref> He originally wrote to Hermite concerning [[celestial mechanics]], but the subject quickly turned to mathematics and he began to devote his spare time to mathematical research.

The director of [[Leiden]] Observatory, van de Sande-Bakhuyzen, responded quickly to Stieltjes' request on 1 January 1883 to stop his observational work to allow him to work more on mathematical topics. In 1883, he also married Elizabeth Intveld in May. She also encouraged him to move from astronomy to mathematics. And in September, Stieltjes was asked to substitute at [[Delft University|University of Delft]] for F.J. van den Berg. From then until December of that year, he lectured on [[analytical geometry]] and on [[descriptive geometry]]. He resigned his post at the observatory at the end of that year.

In 1884, Stieltjes applied for a chair in [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]]. He was initially accepted, but in the end turned down by the Department of Education, since he lacked the required diplomas. In 1884, Hermite and professor [[David Bierens de Haan]] arranged for an honorary doctorate to be granted to Stieltjes by [[Leiden University]], enabling him to become a professor.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qj0vAAAAMAAJ |title=Mathematical Reviews |date=1994 |publisher=American Mathematical Society |pages=52–53 |language=en}}</ref> In 1885, he was appointed as member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences]] (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, KNAW), and the next year he became a foreign member.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00003151 |title=Thomas Jan Stieltjes Jr. (1856–1894) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> In 1889, he was appointed professor of differential and integral calculus at [[University of Toulouse|Toulouse University]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2nxAAAAMAAJ |title=Annales de la faculté des sciences de Toulouse: Mathématiques |date=1995 |publisher=Université Paul Sabatier |language=fr}}</ref>

Stieltjes died on 31 December 1894 in [[Toulouse]], France. He was buried in {{Interlanguage link|Terre-Cabade cemetery|fr|Cimetière de Terre-Cabade}} on 2 January 1895.

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