section_path: Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Emmy Noether was born on 23 March 1882. She was the first of four children of mathematician Max Noether and Ida Amalia Kaufmann, both from Jewish merchant families. Her first name was "Amalie", but she began using her middle name at a young age and she invariably used the name "Emmy Noether" in her adult life and her publications.
  
  In her youth, Noether did not stand out academically although she was known for being clever and friendly. She was near-sighted and talked with a minor lisp during her childhood. A family friend recounted a story years later about young Noether quickly solving a brain teaser at a children's party, showing logical acumen at an early age. She was taught to cook and clean, as were most girls of the time, and took piano lessons. She pursued none of these activities with passion, although she loved to dance.
  
  She had three younger brothers. The eldest, Alfred Noether, was born in 1883 and was awarded a doctorate in chemistry from Erlangen in 1909, but died nine years later. Fritz Noether was born in 1884, studied in Munich and made contributions to applied mathematics. He was executed in the Soviet Union in 1941. The youngest, Gustav Robert Noether, was born in 1889. Very little is known about his life; he suffered from chronic illness and died in 1928.