Otto Hölder was born on December 22, 1859 in Stuttgart, Germany. He studied at the Polytechnic University of Stuttgart, the University of Berlin, and the University of Tübingen, receiving his doctoral degree in 1882. He taught at the University of Göttingen and the University of Tübingen.
Hölder made important contributions in Fourier series, group theory, functional analysis, Galois theory, and projective geometry. His work in group theory is particularly notable, and includes results in factor groups, the classifications of finite groups, extensions of groups, and inner and outer automorphisms. To students of analysis, he is best known for the inequality that bears his name, relating inner products and norms.
Hölder died on August 29, 1937 in Leipzig, Germany.