Teiji Takagi, founder of the Japanese school of modern mathematics (Q1000337)

The present article is a lively and very useful presentation of Teiji Takagi (1875--1960)'s biography and its leading ideas about class-field theory. Beyond interesting personal details concerning this eminent mathematician, such as those concerning his family, the author depicts vividly the process of mathematical modernisation of Japan and how he was realised. Among other things, he describes Takagi's formative years in Germany and his contacts with Schwarz, Frobenius, Hilbert and other famous German mathematicians. Then, he expounds how he was lead to elaborate his ideas about class-field theory during World war I and subsequent simplifications of his initial proofs by E. Artin, E. Hasse, J. Herbrand and C. Chevalley. A short (7 items) but pertinent bibliography concludes the article and it is followed by a presentation of the Takagi lectures established in 2006.