Naum Natanovich (Nokhim Sanalevich) Meiman (russian: Нау́м Ната́нович (Но́хим Са́нелевич) Ме́йман, 12 May 1912,

Bazar, Ukraine Bazar ( uk, Базар) is a village in the Zhytomyr Oblast in North-Western Ukraine. In a past it used to be a town. Bazar is located in Korosten Raion which suffered from the Chernobyl disaster and some populated places were abandoned and popula ...

– 31 March 2001,

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

) was a Soviet

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

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

. He is known for his work in

complex analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates Function (mathematics), functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathemati ...

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 ...

, and

mathematical physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...

, as well as for his dissident activity, in particular, for being a member of the

Moscow Helsinki Group The Moscow Helsinki Group (also known as the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, russian: link=no, Московская Хельсинкская группа) is today one of Russia's leading human rights organisations. It was originally set up in 1976 ...

Life

He was born in

on 12 May 1912. In 1932 he graduated from

Kazan State University Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...

as an

extern In the C programming language, an external variable is a variable defined outside any function block. On the other hand, a local (automatic) variable is a variable defined inside a function block. Definition, declaration and the extern keywor ...

. In 1937 he submitted his Ph.D. under the supervision of

Nikolai Chebotaryov Nikolai Grigorievich Chebotaryov (often spelled Chebotarov or Chebotarev, uk, Мико́ла Григо́рович Чеботарьо́в, russian: Никола́й Григо́рьевич Чеботарёв) ( – 2 July 1947) was a Ukrainian ...

and was awarded the degree

Doktor nauk Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...

. In 1939 he became a full professor at

. He worked for two years in the Mathematics Institute at the

University of Kharkiv The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

, where he became friends with

Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet- Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His a ...

with whom he collaborated for many years. After the Second World War, he went to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and worked at the

Institute for Physical Problems P. L. Kapitza Institute for Physical ProblemsNamed after Pyotr Kapitsa. (russian: Институт физических проблем имени П. Л. Капицы РАН) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The institute was founded in 1934. T ...

, where he was a head of the mathematics lab. Then he worked in the

Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics The Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP; Russian Институт теоретической и экспериментальной физики) is a multi-disciplinary research center located in Moscow, Russia. ITEP carries ou ...

. In 1953, he was awarded a

Stalin prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

for his work in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

. He made important contributions in the development of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

in the USSR. Starting in 1968, Meiman became active in politics and signed several letters of protest against political trials in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. In 1971, he retired and applied for permission to emigrate to Israel. Denied on grounds of knowing state secrets, he soon became a

refusenik Refusenik (russian: отказник, otkaznik, ; alternatively spelt refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authori ...

. Gradually he became more active in politics, and was a member of the

beginning in 1977. Later he became deputy chairman and the last active free member, writing hundreds of the group's documents. He also participated in a Refusenik scientific seminar. He was permanently under surveillance by the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

, who also bugged his telephone and searched his home. In 1982, Naum Meiman and

Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov ( rus, Андрей Дмитриевич Сахаров, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ˈdmʲitrʲɪjevʲɪtɕ ˈsaxərəf; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Nuclear physics, nuclear physicist, Soviet dissident, dissident, ...

published a letter in defence of

Yuri Fyodorovich Orlov Yuri Fyodorovich Orlov (russian: Ю́рий Фёдорович Орло́в, 13 August 1924 – 27 September 2020) was a particle accelerator physicist, human rights activist, Soviet dissident, founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group, a founding ...

. Meiman also struggled for the right of his wife

Inna Meiman-Kitrossky Inna Ilyinichna Meiman-Kitrossky (russian: И́нна Ильи́нична Китро́сская-Ме́йман, 16 October 1932, Moscow – 9 February 1987, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.) was a refusenik, a member of a group of refuseniks-c ...

to go to the USA for medical treatment since she had been diagnosed with cancer. After several years of struggle, she was allowed to go to the US and she died in February 1987 in

Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Georgetown is a historic neighborhood, and commercial and entertainment district located in Northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751 in the Province of Maryland, the port of Georgetown predated the establishm ...

. Meiman was not allowed to attend her funeral in Washington D.C. In 1988 Meiman was finally allowed to emigrate to Israel, where he became a professor emeritus in

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

. In 1992, in Tel-Aviv, there was a conference in his honor dedicated to his 80th birthday. Meiman died there in 2001.

References

Online journals

Московская Хельсинкская группа (Moscow Helsinki group). Мейман Наум Натанович (Naum Meiman)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meiman, Naum 1912 births 2001 deaths People from Zhytomyr Oblast Soviet Jews Ukrainian Jews Soviet mathematicians Soviet physicists Israeli mathematicians 20th-century Israeli physicists Jewish physicists Soviet dissidents Soviet human rights activists Jewish human rights activists Moscow Helsinki Group Refuseniks Ukrainian Zionists Soviet emigrants to Israel Stalin Prize winners Academic staff of the National University of Kharkiv Academic staff of Tel Aviv University

Life

References

Further reading

Online journals