Gyula Vályi (5 January 1855, Neumarkt am Mieresch, Austrian Empire (now Târgu Mureş, Romania) – 13 October 1913, Kolozsvár, Austria-Hungary (now

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, Romania)) was a Hungarian mathematician and theoretical physicist, a member of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...

, known for his work on mathematical analysis, geometry, and number theory.

Life and work

Vályi was born in Marosvásárhely, the town of the famous mathematicians Farkas Bolyai and János Bolyai. He attended the Reformed College in Marosvásárhely . After graduating from school, he went to Kolozsvár, the capital of Transylvania, where he attended the Franz Joseph University. After qualifying as a teacher of mathematics and physics Vályi was awarded a scholarship to allow him to study for two years at the University of Berlin, where the remarkable mathematics team of

Kummer Kummer is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Bernhard Kummer (1897–1962), German Germanist *Clare Kummer (1873—1958), American composer, lyricist and playwright *Clarence Kummer (1899–1930), American jockey * Christo ...

, Borchardt, Weierstrass and Kronecker were lecturing. His doctoral dissertation was on the theory of partial differential equations of the second order. His thesis was published at Kolozsvár in 1880 and can be found to this day in the library of the Faculty of Mathematics of Babeș-Bolyai University. In 1881 he became a dozent at the University of Kolozsvár. Vályi was appointed professor of theoretical physics in 1884, and in 1885 he also became professor of mathematics lecturing on analysis, geometry and number theory. One of his favorite courses was concerned with János Bolyai's "Appendix". He was elected a corresponding member of the

in 1891. He retired in 1911 because of his deteriorating eyesight. After Vályi retired he went to live with his brother Gábor (1844–1926), who was a professor of statistics at the same university, also retired by this time. Since 2007 this house has possessed a commemorative plaque in Romanian and one in Hungarian stating that this was the last dwelling of Gyula Vályi.

External links

Vályi Gyula Mathematical Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valyi, Gyula 1855 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Hungarian mathematicians 20th-century Hungarian mathematicians Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Academic staff of Franz Joseph University Mathematicians from Austria-Hungary