11 Facts About Alfred Kempe

Sir Alfred Bray Kempe FRS was a mathematician best known for his work on linkages and the four colour theorem.

Alfred Kempe was educated at St Paul's School, London and then studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where Arthur Cayley was one of his teachers.

Alfred Kempe was knighted in 1913, the same year he became the Chancellor for the Diocese of London.

Alfred Kempe was Chancellor of the dioceses of Newcastle, Southwell, St Albans, Peterborough, Chichester, and Chelmsford.

Alfred Kempe received the honorary degree DCL from the University of Durham and he was elected a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1909.

In 1879 Alfred Kempe wrote his famous "proof" of the four colour theorem, shown incorrect by Percy Heawood in 1890.

Alfred Kempe revealed a rather marked philosophical bent, and much influenced Charles Sanders Peirce.

Alfred Kempe discovered what are now called multisets, although this fact was not noted until long after his death.

Alfred Kempe was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1881.

Alfred Kempe was a president of the London Mathematical Society from 1892 to 1894.

Alfred Kempe then married, in 1897, Ida, daughter of Judge Meadows White, QC.