Vera Myller-Lebedev (1 December 1880 – 12 December 1970) was a Russian Empire-born

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 ...

who earned her doctorate in Germany with

David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many a ...

and became the first female university professor in Romania.

Education

Vera Lebedev was born in

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 ...

and educated in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

. From 1897 through 1902 she participated in the

Bestuzhev Courses The Bestuzhev Courses (russian: Бестужевские курсы) in Saint Petersburg were the largest and most prominent women's higher education institution in Imperial Russia. The institute opened its doors in 1878. It was named after Konst ...

in Saint Petersburg. She then traveled to the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, where she completed a doctorate in 1906 under the supervision of

. Her dissertation was ''Die Theorie der Integralgleichungen in Anwendungen auf einige Reihenentwickelungen'', and concerned

integral equation In mathematics, integral equations are equations in which an unknown Function (mathematics), 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 ; ...

Marriage and career

In Göttingen, she met Romanian mathematician . She married him in 1907, returned with him to the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University ( Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia M ...

, and in 1910 joined the mathematics faculty there. In 1918 she was promoted to full professor, becoming Romania's first female professor. She died in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

in 1970, and is buried at the city's

Eternitatea Cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...

Contributions

She wrote Romanian-language textbooks on algebra (1942) and algebraic applications of

group theory In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ...

(1945), and won the Romanian State Prize in 1953 for her algebra text.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myller, Vera 1880 births 1970 deaths Mathematicians from the Russian Empire 20th-century Romanian mathematicians Romanian textbook writers Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University University of Göttingen alumni Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Romania Women textbook writers Scientists from Saint Petersburg Burials at Eternitatea cemetery