Talk:Carl Ludwig Siegel

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Siegel renounced his German citizenship out of his own initative and volition. In fact, he became stateless as a result, with all the difficulties that that implied then (rather harsher than the already rather serious difficulties - in travel and residence - that such a status would imply nowadays!).

Given this, it does not seem proper to me to tag him as a "German mathematician". Many good people (and good mathematicians) could be tagged as such, but doing so to Siegel seems simply improper. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.104.3.5 (talk) 09:17, 3 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just as a factual matter, it would be odd not to consider him a German mathematician. Of his 84 years, he spent around 73 of them in Germany. He did flee Germany during World War II, but it wasn't a permanent renunciation of his connection to that country, as he took up a post at Göttingen again in 1951. --Delirium (talk) 23:32, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Living in a country is one thing; being a citizen of it is another. If we are speaking of mathematician X, who was born in A and lived most of his life in B, then it may be sensible to consider him a "B mathematician", even if he never acquired the citizenship of B; acquiring a new citizenship may be an arduous process, and is sometimes downright impossible. If we are speaking of mathematician X, who was born in B and went to the trouble of renouncing his B citizenship - well, that is a different matter entirely. 61.95.189.216 (talk) 09:51, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]