Emil Julius Gumbel

Emil Julius Gumbel
Born(1891-07-18)18 July 1891
Munich, German Empire
Died10 September 1966(1966-09-10) (aged 75)
New York City, United States
Alma materLudwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Known forGumbel distribution, Gumbel copula, spurious correlation
SpouseMarieluise von Czettritz
Children1 step son
Scientific career
FieldsStatistics, Extreme value theory
InstitutionsRuprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Institut Henri Poincaré (Paris), Université de Strasbourg, Université de Lyon, École libre des hautes études (New York), New School for Social Research (New York), Brooklyn College (New York), Stanford University (Palo Alto), Columbia University (New York), Freie Universität Berlin
Thesis Über die Interpolation des Bevölkerungsstandes  (1914)
Doctoral advisorsGeorg von Mayr, Friedrich Böhm

Emil Julius Gumbel (18 July 1891, in Munich – 10 September 1966, in New York City) was a German mathematician and political writer.

Gumbel specialised in mathematical statistics and, along with Leonard Tippett and Ronald Fisher, was instrumental in the development of extreme value theory, which has practical applications in many fields, including engineering and finance. In 1958, Gumbel published a key book, Statistics of Extremes,[1] in which he derived and analyzed the probability distribution that is now known as the Gumbel distribution in his honor.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, Gumbel was considered unusual and highly controversial in German academic circles for his vocal support of left-wing politics and pacifism, and his opposition to Fascism.[2][3] His influential writings about the politically motivated Feme murders made the case that the Weimar Republic was corruptly anti-leftist and anti-republican.[4] Gumbel publicly opposed the Nazi Party and, in 1932, he was one of the 33 prominent signers of the Urgent Call for Unity.

  1. ^ Gumbel, E. J. (1958). Statistics of Extremes. Columbia University Press, New York.
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