A number of people have done mathematical research while imprisoned. Some were put in prisoner-of-war camps during various conflicts, including World War I and World War II; others were forced into labour or concentration camps. Several mathematicians were jailed as a result of their political views (at least in part), notably Évariste Galois, Bertrand Russell, and Chandler Davis. +NamePrisonTime periodNotable work done in prisonNotesJean-Victor PonceletSaratov prisoner of war camp1813–1814Formulation of projective properties of conicsCaptured during the French invasion of Russia.Évariste GaloisSainte Pélagie Prison1831–1832Preface to Deux mémoires d’analyse purArrested during Bastille Day demonstrations; charged with wearing a police uniform and carrying a firearm.André BlochCharenton mental asylum1917–1948Various pieces of complex analysis, including Bloch's theorem and Bloch's principleCommitted after murdering several family members; all of his publications were written while in Charenton.Bertrand RussellHM Prison Brixton1918Introduction to Mathematical PhilosophyImprisoned due to anti-war activities during World War I.Ludwig WittgensteinPrisoner of war camps in Como and Cassino1918–1919Tractatus Logico-PhilosophicusCaptured by Italian forces while serving in the Austrian Army.André Weil1940Proof of the Riemann hypothesis for curves over finite fieldsJailed for avoiding military obligations; also worked on his draft of a Bourbaki volume on integration in prison.Pál TuránVarious labour camps in Hungary1940–1944Turán's brick factory problemInterned in forced labour service as a Hungarian Jew during World War II; also published work relating to the Riemann zeta function.Jean LerayOflag XVII-A1940–1945Work in algebraic topology, including sheaves and spectral sequencesBecame a German prisoner of war; avoided research in fluid mechanics due to fear the Germans would require him to work for them.Jakow TrachtenbergSachsenhausen or Auschwitz concentration camp194?–1945Trachtenberg system of mental arithmeticTaken by the Gestapo after fleeing to Yugoslavia.Chandler DavisDanbury Federal Correctional Institution1960Imprisoned for refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.Christopher HavensCurrently Monroe Correctional Complex2011–Sentenced to 25 years for murder; cofounded the Prison Mathematics Project in 2020.
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