Hans Künzi

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Hans Künzi

Hans Paul Künzi (born January 30, 1924 in Olten ; † November 16, 2004 in Zurich ) was a Swiss politician ( FDP ) and mathematician . He held a double professorship at the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich and created the Zurich S-Bahn as a member of the government of the Canton of Zurich . He found his final resting place in the Manegg cemetery in Zurich .

Life

youth

Hans Künzi, whose father was employed as an electrical engineer at Atel in Olten ( Canton Solothurn ), was born in Olten and grew up in this railway town . He attended the canton school Solothurn , where he became a member of the free-spirited canton school student association Wengia Solodorensis .

Academic

Hans Künzi studied mathematics at the ETH Zurich and received his doctorate in 1949 under Albert Pfluger on a function-theoretical topic (Fatou's theorem for harmonic and subharmonic functions in n-dimensional spheres) . The habilitation took place in 1955 with the text New contributions to the geometric value distribution theory . He wrote numerous other works on function theory , in particular on Nevanlinnaschen's value distribution theory and on quasi-conformal maps . He also dealt with operations research .

After teaching mathematics at the cantonal commercial school from 1952 to 1958, he became a professor for operations research and electronic data processing at the University of Zurich in 1958 . He then concentrated his scientific work on this area and wrote numerous textbooks and monographs about it. From 1966 he was also a professor at the ETH Zurich . Künzi was one of the founders of the Swiss Association for Operations Research and also its first president.

As a leading representative in the field of operations research outside the Anglo-Saxon language area, Künzi was also an IT pioneer and dealt with big data early on . It was also he who bought the first computer at the University of Zurich.

politics

S-Bahn train 514 006 "Hans Künzi"

Künzi was elected to the government council of the canton of Zurich in 1970, of which he was a member until 1991. During this time he was President of the Government Council four times. From 1971 to 1987 he was also a member of the Swiss National Council . He headed the economics department and shaped the development of public transport during this time. Under his leadership, the Zurich S-Bahn and the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) were established. In Zurich, Künzi has therefore also become known as the "father of the Zurich S-Bahn". For this reason, a composition of the new S-Bahn trains SBB RABe 514 was baptized in his name.

Initial plans for a combined S-Bahn and U-Bahn were heavily rejected by the Zurich population in 1973. In 1981, under Künzi's leadership, renewed plans for an S-Bahn without underground construction were approved by a clear majority. In 1991, the Zurich S-Bahn finally went into operation. A year later, Künzi said goodbye to politics.

Künzi not only excelled in S-Bahn construction, but also pushed the expansion of Zurich Airport forward. He was also involved in the cantonalization of Swiss vocational schools.

further activities

After his resignation as a member of the government, he worked in the field of non-profit organizations and supported scientific foundations. He was also committed to promoting young talent.

As President of the Fraumünster Church Administration , he initiated the Chagall windows in the Fraumünster choir together with the pastor at the time, Peter Vogelsanger .

monument

Since September 2017, a light installation by the artist Carsten Höller has been a reminder of the life and work of Hans Künzi. The work of art is installed in Zurich main station , at the exit to Europaallee . "Around 400 neon circles with a diameter of 60 centimeters are attached to the roof of the building in an L-shaped grid. Controlled by a program specially developed by the artist, the circles glide poetically across the headliner at different speeds and directions, symbolizing the one in the main station The chaotically ordered flow of goods and people can be observed on a daily basis - a mathematically and aesthetically precise version of movement systems, as Hans Künzi once created with the S-Bahn. "

Fonts

  • Nonlinear programming, Springer Verlag 1975, 2nd edition 1979
  • Introduction to mathematical optimization, Verlag Industrielle Organization, Zurich 1969
  • with Martin J. Beckmann : Mathematics for Economists, 2 volumes, Springer Verlag 1969
  • with Rudolf Henn : Introduction to corporate research, 2 volumes, Springer Verlag, Heidelberger Taschenbücher 1968
  • with Werner Oettli: Nonlinear Optimization. Newer procedures, Springer Verlag 1969
  • Linear optimization of large systems, Springer Verlag 1966
  • Introductory course in dynamic programming, Springer Verlag 1968
  • Numerical methods of mathematical optimization: with Algol and Fortran programs, Teubner 1966
  • Nonlinear programming, Springer Verlag 1962
  • Linear programming, Industrielle Organization Verlag, Zurich 1958
  • Quasi-conformal illustrations, Springer Verlag, Results of Mathematics and its Frontier Areas, 1960
  • Linear and non-linear optimization, in Robert Sauer , Istvan Szabo : The mathematical tools of the engineer , Volume 3, Springer Verlag 1968
  • Zurich's public transport and its S-Bahn, New Year's paper of the learned society of Zurich. Beer, Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-906262-10-3 .

literature

  • Markus Bürgi: Künzi, Hans. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Joseph Jung : Hans Künzi. Operations Research and Transport Policy. NZZ Libro, Zurich 2017 (Swiss pioneers in business and technology), ISBN 978-3-03810-285-4 .
  • Biography about Hans Künzi (1924-2004). In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , September 13, 2017, p. 18 f. - In this:
    • Stefan Hotz: A visionary mathematician and politician ( online ).
    • Joseph Jung: Hans Künzi catapulted the University of Zurich into the computer age.
    • Joseph Jung: The professor fails with the fighter jet.
  • Jürg Kohlas: A portrait of Hans Künzi, founding president of the SVOR. In: Bulletin of SVOR 138, May 2011 (PDF; 1.5 MB), pp. 13-16.
  • Magdalen Künzi-Girsberger: Hans Künzi 1924-2004. A multifaceted life. Zurich 2009 (private print).
  • Sigi Schär: former government councilor Hans Künzi has died. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, November 18, 2004, p. 53 ( online ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fränzi Zwahlen-Saner: Traffic and computer pioneer: An Oltner set the course in Zurich . In: Oltner Tagblatt / Switzerland on weekends . September 18, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  2. ^ Stefan Hotz: A visionary mathematician and politician. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, September 13, 2017, p. 18 ( online ).
  3. ^ Christoph Doswald: Carsten Höller: Monument for Hans Künzi . Retrieved July 8, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Künzi, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Künzi, Hans Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss mathematicians and politicians (Free Democratic Party)
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Olten
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 2004
Place of death Zurich