Mykhailo Pylypovych Kravchuk, also Krawtchouk ( uk, Миха́йло Пили́пович Кравчу́к) (September 27, 1892 – March 9, 1942), 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, ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

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 the author of around 180 articles on mathematics. He primarily wrote papers on

differential equations 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 ...

and

integral equations In mathematics, integral equations are equations in which an unknown function appears under an integral sign. In mathematical notation, integral equations may thus be expressed as being of the form: f(x_1,x_2,x_3,...,x_n ; u(x_1,x_2,x_3,...,x_n) ...

, studying both their theory and applications. His two-volume monograph on the solution of linear differential and integral equations by the method of moments was translated 1938–1942 by John Vincent Atanasoff who found this work useful in his computer-project ( Atanasoff–Berry computer). His student

Klavdiya Latysheva Klavdiya Yakovlevna Latysheva (Russian: ; Ukrainian: ; born 14 March 1897, Kyiv, Russian Empire – 11 May 1956, Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyiv, Ukraine)) was a Soviet mathematician known for her contributions to the theory of diffe ...

was the first Ukrainian woman to obtain a doctorate in the mathematical and physical sciences (1936). Kravchuk held a mathematics chair at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. His course listeners included Sergey Korolev,

Arkhip Lyulka Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka (''Russian'': Архи́п Миха́йлович Лю́лька, ''Ukrainian'': Архип Михайлович Люлька) (1908–1984) was a Soviet scientist and designer of jet engines, head of the OKB Lyulka, ...

, and Vladimir Chelomei, future leading rocket and jet engine designers. Kravchuk was arrested by the Soviet secret police on February 23, 1938 on political and spying charges. He was sentenced to 20 years of prison in September 1938. Kravchuk died in a

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

camp in the

Kolyma Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River an ...

region on March 9, 1942. In September 1956 Kravchuk was posthumously acquitted of all charges. He was restored as a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine posthumously in 1992. He is the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the Kravchuk polynomials and Kravchuk matrix.

References

External links

*
MacTutor biography
this uses the transliteration ''Mikhail Krawtchouk'', which is phonetic for Francophones, and under which he published work)
Ukrainian biographical website

Krawtchouk Polynomials Home Page

S. Hrabovsy, Mykhailo Kravchuk, a mathematician, patriot and precursor of computers, Welcome to Ukraine, 4, 2003

N. Virchenko, Life and death of Mykhailo Kravchuk, a brilliant mathematician, Welcome to Ukraine, 2, 2008INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICAL KRAVCHUK CONFERENCE
Soviet mathematicians Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni 1892 births 1942 deaths People from Volyn Oblast People from Volhynian Governorate Ukrainian people who died in Soviet detention {{Ukraine-scientist-stub