Mikhail Alekseevich Lavrentyev (or Lavrentiev, russian: Михаи́л Алексе́евич Лавре́нтьев) (November 19, 1900 – October 15, 1980) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

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 ...

and hydrodynamicist.

Early years

Lavrentiev was born in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

, where his father was an instructor at a college (he later became a professor at

Kazan University Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...

, then Moscow University). Lavrentiev entered

, and, when his family moved to Moscow in 1921, he transferred to the Department of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. He graduated in 1922. He continued his studies in the university in 1923-26 as a graduate student of Nikolai Luzin. Although Luzin was alleged to plagiarize in science and indulge in anti-Sovietism by some of his students in 1936, Lavrentiev did not participate in the notorious political persecution of his teacher which is known as the Luzin case or Luzin affair. In fact Luzin was a friend of his father.

Mid career

In 1927 Lavrentiev spent half a year in France, collaborating with French mathematicians, and upon returned took up a position with Moscow University. Later he became a member of the staff of the Steklov Institute. His main contributions relate to conformal mappings and

partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which imposes relations between the various partial derivatives of a multivariable function. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" to be solved for, similarly to ...

Mstislav Keldysh Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh (russian: Мстисла́в Все́володович Ке́лдыш; – 24 June 1978) was a Soviet mathematician who worked as an engineer in the Soviet space program. He was the academician of the Academy o ...

was one of his students. In 1939 Alexander A. Bogomolets, the president of the

Ukrainian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

, asked Lavrentev become director of the Institute of Mathematics at

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

One of Lavrentiev's scientific interests was the physics of explosive processes, in which he had become involved when doing defense work 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 opposing ...

. A better understanding of the physics of explosions made it possible to use controlled explosions in construction, the best-known example being the construction of the Medeu Mudflow Control Dam outside of Almaty in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

In Siberia

Mikhail Lavrentiev was one of the main organizers and the first Chairman of the

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

n Division of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

(in his time the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

) from its founding in 1957 to 1975. The foundation of the Siberia's "Academic Town"

Akademgorodok Akademgorodok ( rus, Академгородок, p=ɐkəˌdʲemɡərɐˈdok, "Academic Town") is a part of the Sovetsky City District, Novosibirsk, Sovetsky District of the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, located south of the city center and abou ...

(now a district of Novosibirsk) remains his most widely known achievement. Six months after the decision to found the Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk State University was established. The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was signed January 9, 1958. From 1959 to 1966 he was a professor at Novosibirsk State University. Lavrentyev was also a founder of the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences which since 1980 has been named after Lavrentiev. Lavrentiev was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Socialist Labour, a Lenin Prize and

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

, and a

Lomonosov Gold Medal The Lomonosov Gold Medal (russian: Большая золотая медаль имени М. В. Ломоносова ''Bol'shaya zolotaya medal' imeni M. V. Lomonosova''), named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is awarded ...

. He was elected a member of several world-renowned academies, and an honorable citizen of Novosibirsk. Mikhail A. Lavrentiev's son, also named Mikhail (Mikhail M. Lavrentiev, 1930-2010), also became a mathematician and was a member of the leadership of Akademgorodok.Fortune April 2, 2007 p.36

Eponyms

* Street in

Dolgoprudny Dolgoprudny (russian: Долгопру́дный, ) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about north of Moscow city center. The town's name is derived from Russian "" (''dolgy prud'', lit. "long pond")—a long and narrow pond situated in t ...

* Academician Lavrentyev Avenue in Novosibirsk * Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics in Novosibirsk * SESC affiliated with NSU * Novosibirsk Lavrentyev Lyceum 130 * RV Akademik Lavrentyev *Aiguilles in Altai and

Pamir Pamir may refer to: Geographical features * Pamir Mountains, a mountain range in Central Asia ** Pamir-Alay, a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, part of the Pamir Mountains *A pamir (valley) is a high plateau or valley surro ...

References

External links

* *
Mikhail Lavrentiev's biography
at the site of Lavrentiev Hydrodynamics Institute. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavrentyev, Mikhail Alekseevich Soviet mathematicians Soviet physicists Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology faculty Steklov Institute of Mathematics faculty Mathematicians from Kazan Scientists from Novosibirsk Moscow State University alumni Heroes of Socialist Labour Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences 1900 births 1980 deaths D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia faculty Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic NASU Institute of Mathematics Lavrentyev Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute employees