Guacolda Antoine Lazzerini (11 April 1908 – 22 August 2015) was a Chilean mathematician and teacher of mathematics.

Education and career

Antoine's father died when Antoine was a teenager, and she began helping to support the family by teaching mathematics. She entered the teaching school of the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in 1924, and finished her studies there in 1928, earning the title of professor of mathematics and physics with a thesis on

differential equation In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, an ...

s and their application in pedagogy and engineering. She became a high school mathematics teacher at the

Liceo José Victorino Lastarria (Santiago) Liceo José Victorino Lastarria ( en, José Victorino Lastarria High School) is a Chilean high school located in Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of Sou ...

, and continued to teach there for the next 30 years. Meanwhile, she also became a professor at the from 1928 to 1931, earning a credential as an actuary there in 1929. In 1933 she became an assistant professor at the University of Chile, and by 1954 she was promoted to full professor there. She was named a professor in Chile's school for industrial engineers in 1947, which in 1953 merged into the (UTE). She also helped found The Kent School, a private school in Santiago, in 1953. From 1958 to 1962 she held a position at the UTE equivalent to that of a dean, the first woman at that level in UTE, and from 1963 to 1968 she was head of the mathematics department in the faculty of philosophy and education at the University of Chile. In the 1950s and 1960s she also represented Chile in several international events concerning mathematics teaching. She retired in 1985, but remained active in mathematics long afterward.

Book

In 1971, Antoine coauthored the book ''Nuevas Matematicas Para Los Padres'' 'New Mathematics for Parents'' with María Lara. It concerned New Math and

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...

, subjects popular in mathematics education at the time.

Personal life

Antoine was born on 11 April 1908 in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, one of seven children in a family of immigrants; her mother was from Italy and her father from France, both emigrating to Chile as children in the

occupation of Araucanía The Occupation of Araucanía or Pacification of Araucanía (1861–1883) was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean army and settlers into Mapuche territory which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Ch ...

of the late 18th century. In 1944 she married Arcadio Escobar Zapata, a high school inspector and law student; they had two children. She died on 22 August 2015.

Recognition

In 1992, Antoine was a nominee for the National Education Award. Antoine was honored by the Agrupación de Mujeres Ingenieros in 1997, as part of their celebration of International Women's Day.

References

External links

Pionera Guacolda Antoine Lazzerini
Blogspot {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoine Lazzerini, Guacolda 1908 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Chilean mathematicians Chilean centenarians Chilean women scientists Women mathematicians Women centenarians Mathematics educators University of Chile alumni Academic staff of the University of Chile