Pavel Alekseevich Nekrasov (1853–1924) was a Russian mathematician and a Rector of the Imperial University of Moscow.

Biography

Nekrasov studied at the Orthodox theological seminary and from 1874 at the

University of Moscow 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 ...

. There he was a pupil of the mathematician Nikolai Vasilievich Bugaev. Several years after his graduation, he became a Privatdozent there in 1885 (having received his Russian PhD in the same year, corresponding to a habilitation in the West) and, in 1885 or 1886, an associate professor at Moscow University (where he had been since 1883). In 1890 he received a full professorship. In 1893 he became rector. After his term as rector, he actually wanted to retire, but was not allowed to. He also taught 1885–1891

Probability Theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set ...

and Higher Mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Land Surveying. From 1898 he was almost only with administrative duties for the Ministry of Education (he was curator of the university and responsible for the schools in Moscow and the surrounding area) and moved in 1905 to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

as a member of the Council of the Ministry of Education. After the Russian Revolution, he tried to adapt to the new rulers, dealt with mathematical economics (which he held lectures in 1918–19) and studied

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

. He died of pneumonia in 1924. However, his rapprochement with Marxism earned him no recognition. On the contrary, with some of his writings, after his death he was a major target of attacks against religiously influenced mathematicians, culminating in the arrest of

Dmitri Egorov Dmitri Fyodorovich Egorov (russian: Дми́трий Фёдорович Его́ров; December 22, 1869 – September 10, 1931) was a Russian and Soviet mathematician known for contributions to the areas of differential geometry and mathematic ...

and the Luzin Affair.Eugene Seneta: Mathematics, religion, and Marxism in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, Historia Mathematica, Band 31, 2004, 337–367. In 1891 he was vice-president of the

Moscow Mathematical Society The Moscow Mathematical Society (MMS) is a society of Moscow mathematicians aimed at the development of mathematics in Russia. It was created in 1864, and Victor Vassiliev is the current president. History The first meeting of the society wa ...

and was its president from 1903 to 1905. From 1891 to 1894 he was vice-president of the Society of Friends of Science in Moscow. He dealt with

algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary ...

analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (3 ...

, mechanics and

probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set ...

. In the latter area he made substantial contributions, which were criticized in his time by Andrey Markov and

Aleksandr Lyapunov Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ляпуно́в, ; – 3 November 1918) was a Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist. His surname is variously romanized as Ljapunov, Liapunov, Lia ...

, because he could not present them in a satisfactory form, and even later he was forgotten. Markov and Lyapunov are today usually called as representatives of the St. Petersburg School (founded by

Pafnuty Chebyshev Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev ( rus, Пафну́тий Льво́вич Чебышёв, p=pɐfˈnutʲɪj ˈlʲvovʲɪtɕ tɕɪbɨˈʂof) ( – ) was a Russian mathematician and considered to be the founding father of Russian mathematics. Chebyshe ...

) when it comes to the question of the first mathematically strict treatment of the

Central Limit Theorem In probability theory, the central limit theorem (CLT) establishes that, in many situations, when independent random variables are summed up, their properly normalized sum tends toward a normal distribution even if the original variables themsel ...

, the discussion and debate with Nekrasov played a significant role (especially one essay from 1898).

Books

* ''The Theory of Probability: Central Limit Theorem'' * ''Method of Least Squares'' * ''Reactionary Views'' * ''Teaching of Probability Theory'' * ''Further Developments''

References

1853 births 1924 deaths 19th-century mathematicians from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian mathematicians Academic staff of Moscow State University Professorships at the Imperial Moscow University Rectors of Moscow State University {{Russia-mathematician-stub