Władysław Ślebodziński () (February 6, 1884 – January 3, 1972) was a Polish

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 ...

. Władysław Ślebodziński was born in Pysznica, Poland and educated at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

(1903-1908) where he subsequently held a teaching position until 1921. After 1921, he lectured at the State High School of Mechanical Engineering

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

and in the thirties, he was a visiting lecturer at the

Poznań University Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

and

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

until 1939. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, he gave underground lectures, leading to his imprisonment. He survived three German concentration camps:

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

(1942 - 1945), where he gave underground university-level lectures as prisoner no. 79053,

Gross-Rosen Gross-Rosen was a network of Nazi concentration camps built and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II. The main camp was located in the German village of Gross-Rosen, now the modern-day Rogoźnica, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Rogoźnica in ...

and

Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...

. In 1945 he became a joint professor at

Wrocław University Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, ro ...

and at the

Wrocław University of Technology Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, and from 1951 he was a professor at the

. With

Bronisław Knaster Bronisław Knaster (22 May 1893 – 3 November 1980) was a Polish mathematician; from 1939 a university professor in Lwów and from 1945 in Wrocław. He is known for his work in point-set topology and in particular for his discoveries in 1922 of ...

Edward Marczewski Edward Marczewski (15 November 1907 – 17 October 1976) was a Polish mathematician. He was born Szpilrajn but changed his name while hiding from Nazi persecution. Marczewski was a member of the Warsaw School of Mathematics. His life and work aft ...

and

Hugo Steinhaus Hugo Dyonizy Steinhaus ( ; ; January 14, 1887 – February 25, 1972) was a Polish mathematician and educator. Steinhaus obtained his PhD under David Hilbert at Göttingen University in 1911 and later became a professor at the Jan Kazimierz Unive ...

, he was a co-founder of the mathematical journal Colloquium Mathematicum. From 1949 until 1960, he was a Professor of the Institute of Mathematics of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

. Władysław Ślebodziński's main interest was

differential geometry Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra and multili ...

. In 1931, he introduced the definition of the

Lie derivative In differential geometry, the Lie derivative ( ), named after Sophus Lie by Władysław Ślebodziński, evaluates the change of a tensor field (including scalar functions, vector fields and one-forms), along the flow defined by another vector fi ...

, although according to J.A. Schouten, the term ''Lie derivative'' occurred first in a two-part paper by van Dantzig.Dantzig D. van (1932) ''Zur allgemeinen projektiven Differentialgeometrie I, II.'' , Proc. Kon. Akad. Amsterdam 35 pp. 524-534; pp. 535-542 He was the advisor of 11 PhD theses. He was also doctor ''honoris causa'' at the

(1965), at the

Poznań University of Technology Poznań University of Technology, PUT (Polish name: ''Politechnika Poznańska'') is a university in Poznań, Poland. Poznań University of Technology is known as one of the best technical universities in Poland. URAP ranked PUT as in top 6% of ...

(1967), and at the

(1970). Prof. Ślebodziński was a member, President (1961-1963) and honorary member of the

Polish Mathematical Society The Polish Mathematical Society ( pl, Polskie Towarzystwo Matematyczne) is the main professional society of Polish mathematicians and represents Polish mathematics within the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and the International Mathematical Un ...

. He died in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

in 1972 and is buried in the Wrocław, Cemetery Sępolno.

Notes

References

* Classical approach using coordinates. 1884 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Polish mathematicians Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp survivors Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors Jagiellonian University alumni Academic staff of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Academic staff of the University of Wrocław {{Poland-mathematician-stub

See also

Notes

References