1888 – 1942
Moses Schönfinkel was a Russian logician and mathematician who pioneered combinatory logic, a formal system that eliminates the need for bound variables in mathematical logic. His 1924 paper 'Über die Bausteine der mathematischen Logik' laid the groundwork for both lambda calculus and functional programming, making him one of the most influential yet underrecognized figures in the foundations of computation.
Invented combinatory logic, eliminating bound variables from formal logic
Introduced the technique of transforming multi-argument functions into chains of single-argument functions (later called 'currying')
Defined the S and K combinators, proven sufficient to express any computable function
Influenced Haskell Curry and the subsequent development of lambda calculus and functional programming