In my previous article I mentioned that Elise Riemann contributed to the last part of Bernhard Riemanns Lebenslauf. Now I am almost sure that she actually contributed more than 60% to the beginning paragraphs, too, i.e. about the early years of Bernhard Riemann.

I have just read a letter from Elise Riemann to Dedekind and in the appendix there is exactly the beginning of the Lebenslauf. Of course Dedekind made minor corrections and added more details as well as some comments on Riemann’s shyness, but the flow and the outer appearance of the sentences were not altered.

Another possibility is that these paragraphs on Riemann’s childhood were written by Riemann’s sister, Ida Koch. I hope I had some writing style analysis algorithm to identify who wrote what.

Anyway, something we are sure for now:

1. Dedekind also did not claim “copyright” for this biography. Actually, when working on the publication of Riemann’s Collected Works, he asked Heinrich Weber to just mention him a bit in the preface, something like “the biographical piece was written by R. Dedekind, heavily based on the information provided by Riemann’s family“, instead of adding his own name below the title Bernhard Riemanns Lebenslauf, as how we usually see the piece today.
2. Elise Riemann and Ida Koch also didn’t see any issue in copyright, let alone plagiarism. Actually Elise was really glad to see how the biography was presented.
3. The middle part on Riemann’s mathematical activities was surely written by Dedekind but, as we know, they contain largely Riemann’s own letters.

Therefore, this is really a work of collective authorship, but in which no author really cared about copyright… They simply wanted to present to the world a great biography of Riemann! But today, as we ourselves care about copyright and true history, it is unfair to claim that the piece was entirely written by Dedekind – I think it’s also unfair to Dedekind himself, as this would sound like he plagiarized Elise Riemann, which he really didn’t have the intention.

Anyway, my last exam in Year 3 tomorrow! After that I should have more time to dig more into these.

Still: Happy Labor’s Day! It’s almost a global holiday now and is a great result of workers’ movements!