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In accordance with Wikipedia's guidelines [WP:NCP], this article should be titled "Niels Fabian Helge von Koch". Wikipedia's naming conventions
[1] are very clear: The "Firstname Lastname" format applies to the majority of biographical articles. A potential exception would for an individual who is much better known by an alternative name (for example, "Bill Clinton" instead of "William Jefferson Clinton"). In this instance, however, the Swedish surname is "von Koch" but the preposition was omitted in naming the
Koch snowflake. In some biographies, the phrase "Helge von Koch" was used to distinguish this individual from his father ("Vogt von Koch") and his grandfather ("Samuel von Koch"), who were also notable figures in Sweden. Nonetheless, major biographies and other standard references simply refer to this individual as "von Koch"; see L. Garding, Mathematics and Mathematicians: Mathematics in Sweden before 1950 (Providence, R.I., 1998), and M. Bernkopf, Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990). A complete bibliography of von Koch’s papers is in
Acta Mathematica 45:345-348 (1925). If there are no objections within the next 7 days, I will proceed with re-titling this article with the individual's full name in accordance with the Wikipedia guidelines.
Andrew.T.Levin (
talk)
03:54, 5 February 2024 (UTC)reply
A point of information perhaps relevant to your question: In his publications in journals his name appears as "M. Helge von Koch" or "M. H. von Koch" (M. stands for Monsieur, meaning Mr.) for example "Sur une classe d'équations linéaires aux dérivées partielles. Note de M. H. von Koch, présentée par M. Picard", Comptes Rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences, t. 121(1895), p 517", which article can be seen at
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3077p/f517.tableDesMatieres