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Two factoids of interest: 1. André was the older brother of philosopher Simone Weil. 2. "Weil" is a jumbled version of "Levi" adopted by some so as to be less
by pmdulaney 21d ago
Two factoids of interest:
1. André was the older brother of philosopher Simone Weil.
2. "Weil" is a jumbled version of "Levi" adopted by some so as to be less conspicuously Jewish, and thus be less likely to be persecuted or discriminated against.
- bananaflag 15d ago3. He is not to be confused with Hermann Weyl.
- svat 15d ago3'. Nor with Andrew Wiles. 4. Some of his best work was done/completed while he was in military prison (ignoring his draft orders to report to World War II duty). IIRC later when he mentioned this to some official, they offered to give him the opportunity again. (André Weil spent some time in India, previously having apparently taught himself Sanskrit at age 14 and the Bhagavad Gita being described as his constant companion. His autobiography The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician is very interesting.)
- kergonath 15d ago> 1. André was the older brother of philosopher Simone Weil. But no relation with Simone Veil (both Veil and Weil are pronounced exactly the same way in French).