Václav Hlavatý (27 January 1894 – 11 January 1969) was a noted

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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 wrote on the

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

and corresponded extensively with

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

on the subject.Indiana University fast facts
/ref> In particular, Hlavatý solved some very difficult equations relating to Einstein's

Unified field theory In physics, a unified field theory (UFT) is a type of field theory that allows all that is usually thought of as fundamental forces and elementary particles to be written in terms of a pair of physical and virtual fields. According to the modern ...

, which was featured in the news media as one of the great scientific achievements of 1953. Einstein himself was reported to have said that if anyone could solve the equations it would be Professor Hlavatý, which proved to be the case.Václav Hlavatý
Czech biography, citing the New York Herald Tribune He was born in

Louny Louny (; german: Laun) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic) ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

(now in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

) and died in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

. He obtained his PhD in 1921 at the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

www.mff.cuni.cz
Prof. Václav HlavatýV. Hlavatý (1928) ''Mathematische Zeitschrift'', Vol 28, No 1, Bemerkung zur Arbeit von Herrn T. Y. Thomas and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

participated in the

Prague uprising The Prague uprising ( cs, Pražské povstání) was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World War II. The preceding six years of o ...

, but his academic career was mainly at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, which he joined in 1948, and where he became Professor, later Emeritus, of Mathematics. A special book of mathematical essays was published in his honour. B. Hoffmann (ed.), ''Perspectives in Geometry and Relativity: Essays in Honor of Václav Hlavatý,'' Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1966. In 1958, he became the first President of the

Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, until 1978 known as Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America, is an international non-profit organization with the aim to connect people with interest in Czech and Slovak intellectual contri ...

U.S. Library of Congress: ''The Czechs in America''
/ref> established in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

by intellectuals of Czech and Slovak origin. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1928 in Bologna and in 1936 in Oslo. In 1931 he married Olga Neumannova, and they had a daughter, Olga.

Some publications

Articles

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Books

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References

External links

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Václav Hlavatý
biography (in Czech)

biography (in Czech) includes photograph {{DEFAULTSORT:Hlavaty, Vaclav 1894 births 1969 deaths People from Louny People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech National Social Party politicians Members of the Interim National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Czech mathematicians Charles University alumni Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States American people of Czech descent 20th-century American mathematicians Indiana University faculty Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk