Veniamin Kagan
Encyclopedia
Veniamin Fedorovich Kagan was a Russia
n and Soviet mathematician
and expert in geometry
. He is the maternal grandfather of mathematician Yakov Sinai
.
(now Šiauliai
, Lithuania
) in 1869, to a poor Ashkenazi Jewish
family. In 1871 his family moved to Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk
), where he grew up. Kagan entered the Imperial Novorossiya University
in Odessa
in 1887, but was expelled for revolutionary activities in 1889. He was put on probation
and sent back to Yekaterinoslav. He studied mathematics on his own and in 1892 passed the state exam at Kiev University
.
In 1894 Kagan moved to St Petersburg where he continued his studies with Andrey Markov
and Konstantin Posse. They tried to help him to obtain an academic position, but Kagan's Jewish background was an obstacle. Only in 1897 was he allowed to became a dozent
at the Imperial Novorossiya University, where he continued to work until 1923. His students in the theory of relativity
class he taught in 1921-22 included Nikolaj Papaleksi, Alexander Frumkin
and Igor Tamm
.
Kagan worked at Moscow State University
where he held the Geometry Chair from 1923 till 1952. Aging and disillusioned with anti-Semitic practices, he resigned from the university and died in Moscow
soon afterwards.
, particularly on Lobachevsky geometry and on Riemannian geometry
. He received the USSR State Prize
in 1943. He founded the science publisher Mathesis in Odessa. He was a director of the mathematics and natural sciences department of the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia. He wrote a definitive biography of Nikolai Lobachevsky
and edited his collected works (5 volumes, 1946–1951).
Kagan's doctoral students include Pyotr Rashevsky, Viktor Wagner
and Isaak Yaglom
.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Soviet mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and expert in geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
. He is the maternal grandfather of mathematician Yakov Sinai
Yakov G. Sinai
Yakov Grigorevich Sinai is an influential mathematician working in the theory of dynamical systems, in mathematical physics and in probability theory. His work has shaped the modern metric theory of dynamical systems...
.
Biography
Kagan was born in Shavli, Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Šiauliai
Šiauliai
Šiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
) in 1869, to a poor Ashkenazi Jewish
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
family. In 1871 his family moved to Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
), where he grew up. Kagan entered the Imperial Novorossiya University
Odessa University
The I. I. Mechnikov Odessa National University , located in Odessa, Ukraine, is one of the country's major universities. It was founded in 1865, by an edict of Czar Alexander II of Russia, reorganizing the Richelieu Lyceum of Odessa into the new Imperial Novorossiya University. In the Soviet...
in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in 1887, but was expelled for revolutionary activities in 1889. He was put on probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
and sent back to Yekaterinoslav. He studied mathematics on his own and in 1892 passed the state exam at Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
.
In 1894 Kagan moved to St Petersburg where he continued his studies with Andrey Markov
Andrey Markov
Andrey Andreyevich Markov was a Russian mathematician. He is best known for his work on theory of stochastic processes...
and Konstantin Posse. They tried to help him to obtain an academic position, but Kagan's Jewish background was an obstacle. Only in 1897 was he allowed to became a dozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
at the Imperial Novorossiya University, where he continued to work until 1923. His students in the theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
class he taught in 1921-22 included Nikolaj Papaleksi, Alexander Frumkin
Alexander Naumovich Frumkin
Alexander Naumovich Frumkin , Russian/Soviet electrochemist, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1932, founder of the Russian Journal of Electrochemistry Elektrokhimiya and receiver of the Hero of Socialist Labor award. The Russian Academy of Sciences' A.N...
and Igor Tamm
Igor Tamm
Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm was a Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate who received most prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, for the discovery of Cherenkov radiation, made in 1934.-Biography:Tamm was born in Vladivostok, Russian Empire , in a...
.
Kagan worked at Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
where he held the Geometry Chair from 1923 till 1952. Aging and disillusioned with anti-Semitic practices, he resigned from the university and died in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
soon afterwards.
Mathematical work
He published over 100 mathematical papers in different parts of geometryGeometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, particularly on Lobachevsky geometry and on Riemannian geometry
Riemannian geometry
Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, smooth manifolds with a Riemannian metric, i.e. with an inner product on the tangent space at each point which varies smoothly from point to point. This gives, in particular, local notions of angle, length...
. He received the USSR State Prize
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
in 1943. He founded the science publisher Mathesis in Odessa. He was a director of the mathematics and natural sciences department of the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia. He wrote a definitive biography of Nikolai Lobachevsky
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky was a Russian mathematician and geometer, renowned primarily for his pioneering works on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry...
and edited his collected works (5 volumes, 1946–1951).
Kagan's doctoral students include Pyotr Rashevsky, Viktor Wagner
Viktor Wagner
Viktor Vladimirovich Wagner, also Vagner was a Russian mathematician, best known for his work in differential geometry and on semigroups....
and Isaak Yaglom
Isaak Yaglom
Isaak Moiseevich Yaglom was a Soviet mathematician and author of popular mathematics books, some with his twin Akiva Yaglom.Yaglom received a Ph.D. from Moscow State University in 1945 as student of Veniamin Kagan. As the author of several books, translated into English, that have become academic...
.
Trivia
- Mathematician Veniamin Fedorovich Kagan from Odessa is a minor character in The Fourth Prose (1930) by Osip MandelstamOsip MandelstamOsip Emilyevich Mandelstam was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets...
.
External links
- Biography – in the "Kstati" newspaper (in Russian)