1856-1894

Dutch mathematician who is often called the father of the analytic theory of continued fractions. Stieltjes had an undistinguished academic career, relying upon his father to help him find a job after failing to complete his university studies. However, as a mathematician, he excelled, making fundamentally important contributions in differential equation theory, interpolation, elliptic functions, divergent series, and the gamma function. His most important work, published after his untimely death, was awarded a prize by the Académie des Sciences.