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Bolyai, (Farkas) Wolfgang (1775–1856)| Hungarian mathematician, father of János Bolyai; their work on geometry is closely interlinked. |
| Bolyai was born in Nagyszeben, Hungary (now Sibiu, Romania), and studied mathematics at Göttingen, Germany, where he made friends with German mathematician Karl Gauss. Bolyai taught at colleges first in Nagyszeben and then in Marosvásárhely (now Târgu Mureş, Romania) until 1853. |
| His son's growing interest in higher mathematics inspired Bolyai to write the book Tentamen juventutem/Attempt to Introduce Studious Youth into the Elements of Pure Mathematics (1832–33), a survey of mathematics. He also tried to find a proof for Euclid's fifth postulate – that parallel lines do not meet – and János caught his enthusiasm. |
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