Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentyev (or Lavrentiev, russian: Михаи́л Алексе́евич Лавре́нтьев) (November 19, 1900 – October 15, 1980) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

and

hydrodynamicist In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) and ...

Early years

Lavrentiev was born in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, where his father was an instructor at a college (he later became a professor at Kazan University, then

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

). Lavrentiev entered Kazan University, and, when his family moved to Moscow in 1921, he transferred to the Department of Physics and Mathematics of

. He graduated in 1922. He continued his studies in the university in 1923-26 as a graduate student of

Nikolai Luzin Nikolai Nikolaevich Luzin (also spelled Lusin; rus, Никола́й Никола́евич Лу́зин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ ˈluzʲɪn, a=Ru-Nikilai Nikilayevich Luzin.ogg; 9 December 1883 – 28 January 1950) was a Soviet/Ru ...

. Although Luzin was alleged to plagiarize in science and indulge in anti-Sovietism by some of his students in 1936, Lavrentiev did not participate in the notorious political persecution of his teacher which is known as the Luzin case or Luzin affair. In fact Luzin was a friend of his father.

Mid career

In 1927 Lavrentiev spent half a year in France, collaborating with French mathematicians, and upon returned took up a position with Moscow University. Later he became a member of the staff of the

Steklov Institute Steklov Institute of Mathematics or Steklov Mathematical Institute (russian: Математический институт имени В.А.Стеклова) is a premier research institute based in Moscow, specialized in mathematics, and a part o ...

. His main contributions relate to

conformal map In mathematics, a conformal map is a function that locally preserves angles, but not necessarily lengths. More formally, let U and V be open subsets of \mathbb^n. A function f:U\to V is called conformal (or angle-preserving) at a point u_0\in ...

pings and

partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which imposes relations between the various partial derivatives of a multivariable function. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" to be solved for, similarly to ...

Mstislav Keldysh Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh (russian: Мстисла́в Все́володович Ке́лдыш; – 24 June 1978) was a Soviet mathematician who worked as an engineer in the Soviet space program. He was the academician of the Academy o ...

was one of his students. In 1939

Alexander A. Bogomolets Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Bogomolets (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Богомо́лец, uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович Богомо́лець/Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Bohomolets; 24 May 1881 � ...

, the president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, asked Lavrentev become director of the

Institute of Mathematics This is a list of Institutes of Mathematics or Mathematical Institutes. Americas * American Institute of Mathematics * Clay Mathematics Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts * Centre de Recherches Mathématiques, at the Université de Montréal * ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

One of Lavrentiev's scientific interests was the physics of

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

processes, in which he had become involved when doing defense work during

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 ...

. A better understanding of the physics of explosions made it possible to use controlled explosions in construction, the best-known example being the construction of the Medeu Mudflow Control Dam outside of

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

In Siberia

Mikhail Lavrentiev was one of the main organizers and the first Chairman of the

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

n Division of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

(in his time the Academy of Sciences of the USSR) from its founding in 1957 to 1975. The foundation of the Siberia's "Academic Town"

Akademgorodok Akademgorodok ( rus, Академгородок, p=ɐkəˌdʲemɡərɐˈdok, "Academic Town") is a part of the Sovetsky District of the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, located south of the city center and about west of Koltsovo. It is the edu ...

(now a district of

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

) remains his most widely known achievement. Six months after the decision to found the Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk State University was established. The Decree of the

Council of Ministers of the USSR The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...

was signed January 9, 1958. From 1959 to 1966 he was a professor at Novosibirsk State University. Lavrentyev was also a founder of the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences which since 1980 has been named after Lavrentiev. Lavrentiev was awarded the honorary title of

Hero of the Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

, a Lenin Prize and

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

, and a Lomonosov Gold Medal. He was elected a member of several world-renowned academies, and an honorable citizen of

. Mikhail A. Lavrentiev's son, also named Mikhail (Mikhail M. Lavrentiev, 1930-2010), also became a mathematician and was a member of the leadership of Akademgorodok.Fortune April 2, 2007 p.36

Eponyms

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

in Dolgoprudny * Academician Lavrentyev Avenue in

Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (russian: Институт гидродинамики имени М. А. Лаврентьева СО РАН) is the first research institute based in A ...

in Novosibirsk * SESC affiliated with NSU *

Novosibirsk Lavrentyev Lyceum 130 Novosibirsk Lavrentyev Lyceum 130 — secondary school in Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk. Location *In 1959 school was situated in Shack, wooden building, in "Shya" district (Northern Akademgorodok). *In 1960 school was moved to 10, Detskij proezd ...

* RV Akademik Lavrentyev *Aiguilles in Altai and Pamir

References

External links

* *
Mikhail Lavrentiev's biography
at the site of Lavrentiev Hydrodynamics Institute. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavrentyev, Mikhail Alekseevich Soviet mathematicians Soviet physicists Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology faculty Steklov Institute of Mathematics faculty Mathematicians from Kazan Scientists from Novosibirsk Moscow State University alumni Heroes of Socialist Labour Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences 1900 births 1980 deaths D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia faculty Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic NASU Institute of Mathematics Lavrentyev Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute employees