Theodor Schönemann


Theodor Schönemann, also written Schoenemann, was a German mathematician who obtained several important results in number theory concerning the theory of congruences, which can be found in several publications in Crelle's journal, volumes 17 to 40. Notably he obtained Hensel's lemma before Hensel, Scholz's reciprocity law before Scholz, and formulated Eisenstein's criterion before Eisenstein. He also studied, under the form of integer polynomials modulo both a prime number and an irreducible polynomial, what can nowadays be recognized as finite fields.
He was educated in Königsberg and Berlin, where among his teachers were Jakob Steiner and Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi. He obtained his doctorate in 1842, after which he became Gymnasialoberlehrer in Brandenburg an der Havel. Apart from the mentioned mathematical papers, he also published, mainly after 1850, in mechanics and physical technique.

Works