This study provides a historical analysis of Freudenthal s didactic ideas and his didactic career. It is partly biographical, but also contributes to the historiography of mathematics education and addresses closely related questions such as: what is mathematics and where does it start? Which role does mathematics play in society and what influence does it have on the prevailing views concerning its accompanying didactics?.

Hans Freudenthal (1905 1990), professor in mathematics, scientist, literator, but above all mathematics-educator, was inextricablylinked to the changes which took...