Johan Antony Barrau (3 April 1873,

Oisterwijk Oisterwijk () is a municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. Population centres * Haaren * Heukelom *Moergestel *Oisterwijk Topography ''Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Oisterwijk, 2021'' Transportation * Railway ...

– 8 January 1953, Utrecht) was a Dutch mathematician, specializing in geometry. Barrau was educated at the Dutch Royal Naval College at Willemsoord and then at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. From 1891 to 1898, Barrau was an officer with the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

, later with the

Netherlands Marine Corps The Netherlands Marine Corps ( nl, Korps Mariniers) is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dut ...

. However, he left the service and became a mathematics teacher at a Hogere Burgerschool in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

until 1900, then in Amsterdam. In 1907 he obtained his PhD at the

under the supervision of

Diederik Korteweg Diederik Johannes Korteweg (31 March 1848 – 10 May 1941) was a Dutch mathematician. He is now best remembered for his work on the Korteweg–de Vries equation, together with Gustav de Vries. Early life and education Diederik Korteweg's father ...

. From 1908 to 1913 Barrau was a mathematics professor at the

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

. He was a professor of synthetic, analytical and descriptive differential geometry at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

from 1913 to 1928. From 1928 until his retirement at age 70, he was a professor at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. He received the military service medal consisting of the Expedition Cross with the Atjeh clasp and was named Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

. Barrau published a textbook on analytical geometry and various articles in national and international journals. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1920 at Strasbourg and in 1924 at Toronto. (See p. 6.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrau, Johan Antony 1873 births 1953 deaths 20th-century Dutch mathematicians Geometers University of Amsterdam alumni University of Groningen faculty Utrecht University faculty Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion People from Oisterwijk