Shimshon Avraham Amitsur (born Kaplan; he, שמשון אברהם עמיצור; August 26, 1921 – September 5, 1994) was an Israeli

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. He is best known for his work in ring theory, in particular PI rings, an area of

abstract algebra In mathematics, more specifically algebra, abstract algebra or modern algebra is the study of algebraic structures. Algebraic structures include groups, rings, fields, modules, vector spaces, lattices, and algebras over a field. The term ''a ...

Biography

Amitsur was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and studied at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

under the supervision of

Jacob Levitzki Jacob Levitzki, also known as Yaakov Levitsky ( he, יעקב לויצקי) (17 August 1904 - 25 February 1956) was an Israeli mathematician. Biography Levitzki was born in 1904 in the Russian Empire and emigrated to then Ottoman-ruled Palestine ...

. His studies were repeatedly interrupted, first by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and then by the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

. He received his

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in 1946, and his

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

. in 1950. Later, for his joint work with Levitzki, he received the first Israel Prize in

Exact Sciences The exact sciences, sometimes called the exact mathematical sciences, are those sciences "which admit of absolute precision in their results"; especially the mathematical sciences. Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astron ...

. He worked at the Hebrew University until his retirement in 1989. Amitsur was a visiting scholar at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

from 1952 to 1954. He was an Invited Speaker at the ICM in 1970 in Nice. He was a member of the

Israel Academy of Sciences Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was established in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between Israeli scholars in the sciences and humanities and create a think tank for advising the government on r ...

, where he was the Head for Experimental Science Section. He was one of the founding editors of the ''

Israel Journal of Mathematics '' Israel Journal of Mathematics'' is a peer-reviewed mathematics journal published by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Magnes Press). Founded in 1963, as a continuation of the ''Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel'' (Section F), the jou ...

'', and the mathematical editor of the

Hebrew Encyclopedia The ''Encyclopaedia Hebraica'' ( he, האנציקלופדיה העברית) is a comprehensive encyclopedia in the Hebrew language that was published in the latter half of the 20th century.ha-Entsiklopediyah ha-ʻivrit (האנציקלופדיה ...

. Amitsur received a number of awards, including the

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from Ben-Gurion University in 1990. His students included Avinoam Mann, Amitai Regev, Eliyahu Rips and Aner Shalev.

Awards

Amitsur and Jacob Levitzki were each awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

exact science The exact sciences, sometimes called the exact mathematical sciences, are those sciences "which admit of absolute precision in their results"; especially the mathematical sciences. Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astron ...

s, in 1953, its inaugural year.

Publications

* * *

References

* "Shimshon Avraham Amitsur (1921 — 1994)", by A. Mann, ''Israel Journal of Mathematics'', Vol. 96 (December 1996), ix - xxvii. *

External links

* *
Colleagues, students and family sharing personal experiences with Shimshon Amitsur
Video recording from the 27th Amitsur Memorial Symposium 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amitsur, Shimshon Einstein Institute of Mathematics alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Jews in Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli Jews Israel Prize in exact science recipients Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were mathematicians Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars 20th-century Israeli mathematicians Algebraists Linear algebraists Scientists from Jerusalem 1921 births 1994 deaths

Biography

Awards

See also

Publications

References

External links