Victor Vâlcovici ( – 21 June 1970) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n mechanician and mathematician.

Biography

Born into a modest family in Galați, he graduated first in his class in 1904 from Nicolae Bălcescu High School in Brăila. Entering the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

on a scholarship, he attended its faculty of sciences, where he had as teachers

Spiru Haret Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...

and Gheorghe Țițeica. After graduating in 1907 with a degree in mathematics, he taught high school for two years before leaving for

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 ...

on another scholarship to pursue a doctorate in mathematics. He wrote his thesis under the direction of

Ludwig Prandtl Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953) was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of ...

and defended it in 1913; the thesis, titled ''Ueber die diskontinuierliche Flussigkeitsbewegungen mit zwei freien Strahlen'' (Discontinuous flow of liquids in two free dimensions), amplified upon the work of Bernhard Riemann. He was subsequently named assistant professor of mechanics at 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 ...

, rising to full professor in 1918.Otlăcan, p. 127 In 1921, he became rector of the Polytechnic School of Timișoara. There, he was also professor of rational mechanics and founded a laboratory dedicated to the field. During his nine years as rector, he worked to place the recently founded university on a solid foundation. From 1930 until retiring in 1962, he taught experimental mechanics at the University of Bucharest. In the government of

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

, he served as

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

from 1931 to 1932. During this time, he introduced a modern road network that featured paved highways.Hager, p. 1361 In 1936 he gave an

invited talk An invitation system is a method of encouraging people to join an organization, such as a Club (organization), club or a website. In regular society, it refers to any system whereby new members are chosen; they cannot simply apply. In relation to w ...

at the International Congress of Mathematicians in

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, with title ''Sur le sillage derrière un obstacle circulaire'' (In the wake of a circular obstacle). Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1936, he was stripped of his membership by the new

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

in 1948, but made a titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

in 1965. His numerous articles on theoretical and applied mechanics covered topics such as the principles of variational mechanics, the mechanics of ideal fluid flow, the theory of elasticity and astronomy. He died in 1970 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, and was buried in the city's

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. Th ...

. Streets have been named after Victor Vâlcovici in Brăila, Galați, and

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

; a school in Galați also bears his name.

Books

* *

Notes

References

*Willi Hager, ''Hydraulicians in Europe (1800–2000)'', vol. 2. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 2009. * Eufrosina Otlăcan
"Victor Vâlcovici (1885–1970) – savant și desăvârșit pedagog"
NOEMA, vol. VI, 2007, pp. 124–29

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valcovici, Victor 1885 births 1970 deaths People from Galați University of Bucharest alumni Mechanical engineers 20th-century Romanian mathematicians Romanian schoolteachers University of Bucharest faculty Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty Politehnica University of Timișoara faculty Rectors of Politehnica University of Timișoara Titular members of the Romanian Academy Romanian Ministers of Justice Romanian Ministers of Public Works Romanian Ministers of Communications Romanian Ministers of Transport Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Aerodynamicists Burials at Bellu Cemetery Fluid dynamicists