The joys and tortures of Ludwig Boltzmann, or permanence of a chance. Part I: biography elements

The triumph and tragedy of Ludwig Boltzmann, a romantic thinker, luminary of physics and man for all time, are embodied in the cataclysms of science and the world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The stages of a long journey in science and life are traced with signs of suicidal behavior maturing over the years against the background of cumulation of chronic mental and somatic ailments, a vicious circle of multiplying psychosocial distress. At the same time, mutual devotion to the family and the cause of life (creativity) served as protective (anti-suicidal) factors and brightened up the darkest days. If possible, the testimonies of contemporaries, biographers, excerpts from personal letters and speeches of Professor Boltzmann are given, emphasizing the incarnations of a personality unique in its versatility: a subverter of dogmas and traditions, a rebel-demon of the most tender quivering soul and a passion-bearer.