Jakub Kresa

Jakub Kresa, also known as Jacobo Kresa, was a Czech mathematician, one of the most important mathematicians of the Baroque era in the Kingdom of Bohemia, born at Smržice near Prostějov on 19 July 1648 and dying on 28 July 1715. Born into a smallholder's family, he studied at the Jesuit gymnasium in Brno, where he showed rare skill in mathematics and became a polyglot who spoke Hebrew, German, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese as well as Czech. After teaching at Litoměřice in 1669 and 1670 and studying at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University from 1670 to 1673, he continued mathematics and theology in Prague and was ordained a priest in 1680. In 1681 he began teaching Hebrew at the University of Olomouc, where he earned his first doctorate and from 1682 to 1684 taught mathematics. He was often entrusted with diplomatic tasks, mediating in the peasants' uprising of 1680, and in 1684 became head of the departments of mathematics and Hebrew studies at Charles University.