Hoàng Xuân Sính (born September 8, 1933) is a Vietnamese mathematician, a student of

Grothendieck Alexander Grothendieck, later Alexandre Grothendieck in French (; ; ; 28 March 1928 – 13 November 2014), was a German-born French mathematician who became the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry. His research ext ...

, the first female mathematics professor in Vietnam, the founder of , and a recipient of the ''

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

''.

Early life and career

Hoàng was born in Cót, in the Từ Liêm District of Vietnam, one of seven children of fabric merchant Hoàng Thuc Tan. Her mother died when she was eight years old, and she was raised by a stepmother. She has also frequently been said to be the granddaughter of Vietnamese mathematician

Hoàng Xuân Hãn Hoàng Xuân Hãn (Đức Thọ, 1908 – Paris, 10 March 1996) was a Vietnamese professor of mathematics, linguist, historian and educationalist. He was Minister of Education in the short-lived 1945 cabinet of historian Trần Trọng Kim and dr ...

. She completed a bachelor's degree in 1951 in Hanoi, studying English and French, and then traveled to Paris for a second baccalaureate in mathematics. She stayed in France to study for an ''

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

'' at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

, which she completed in 1959, before returning to Vietnam to become a mathematics teacher at the

Hanoi National University of Education Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE; ) is a public university in Vietnam. Established in 1951 as the fourth university in Vietnam (after Indochina Medical College (1902), University of Indochina (1904), École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts ...

. Hoàng became the first female mathematics professor in Vietnam and at that time was one of a very small number of mathematicians there with a foreign education..

Work with Grothendieck

The French mathematician and pacifist

Alexander Grothendieck Alexander Grothendieck, later Alexandre Grothendieck in French (; ; ; 28 March 1928 – 13 November 2014), was a German-born French mathematician who became the leading figure in the creation of modern algebraic geometry. His research ext ...

visited North Vietnam in late 1967, during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, and spent a month teaching mathematics to the Hanoi University mathematics department staff, including Hoàng, who took the notes for the lectures. Because of the war, Grothendieck's lectures were held away from Hanoi, first in the nearby countryside and later in Đại Từ. After Grothendieck returned to France, he continued to teach Hoàng as a correspondence student.Remembering Alexandre Grothendieck
, Thang Long University, November 18, 2014, accessed 2015-07-18. She earned her doctorate under Grothendieck's supervision from

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...

in 1975, with a handwritten thesis. Her thesis research, on algebraic structures based on categorical

groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

but with a group law that holds only up to isomorphism, prefigured much of the modern theory of

2-group In mathematics, particularly category theory, a is a groupoid with a way to multiply objects and morphisms, making it resemble a group. They are part of a larger hierarchy of . They were introduced by Hoàng Xuân Sính in the late 1960s unde ...

Later accomplishments

When she was promoted to full professor Hoàng became the first female full professor in Vietnam in any scientific or technical field. In 1988 she founded the first private university in Vietnam, in Hanoi, and became the president of its board of directors..

Recognition

In 2003 she was awarded France's ''

'' for her "contributions to boosting cooperation in culture and science between the two nations" of France and Vietnam..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoang, Xuan Sinh 1933 births Living people 20th-century Vietnamese mathematicians 20th-century women mathematicians Algebraic geometers People from Hanoi Academics from Hanoi Paris Diderot University alumni Academic staff of Hanoi National University of Education