Antoni Marian Łomnicki (17 January 1881 – 4 July 1941) 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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He contributed to

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematics, mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and Industrial sector, industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a ...

and

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

. He was the author of several textbooks of mathematics and was an influential mathematics teacher at the

University of Lwów The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

Life and work

Antoni Łomnicki was born in Lwów, the son of Marian Łomnicki. He was educated at the Lviv's IV Gymnasium, Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów in Poland (1899–1903). His teachers included Józef Puzyna, Jan Rajewski, Stanisław Kępiński, Marian Smoluchowski, and

Kazimierz Twardowski Kazimierz Jerzy Skrzypna-Twardowski (; 20 October 1866 – 11 February 1938) was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, logician, and rector of the Lwów University. He was initially affiliated with Alexius Meinong's Graz School of object theory. ...

. He passed the teachers exam in 1903 and received a government scholarship in 1906 to study at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

where he attended lectures by

David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental idea ...

Felix Klein Felix Christian Klein (; ; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and Mathematics education, mathematics educator, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and the associations betwe ...

, H. Minkovsky, and others. He taught at the 7th Gymnasium in Lviv and from 1913 at the Lviv Polytechnic School. In 1918–19 he took part in the Polish-Ukrainian war. In 1920 he became

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of the

Lwów University of Technology Lviv Polytechnic National University () is a public university in Lviv, Ukraine, founded in 1816. According to the Times Higher Education, as of 2024, it ranks first as a technical institution of higher education and second among all instit ...

and taught for the next twenty years. He was part of the

Lwów school of mathematics The Lwów school of mathematics () was a group of Polish mathematicians who worked in the interwar period in Lwów, Poland (since 1945 Lviv, Ukraine). The mathematicians often met at the famous Scottish Café to discuss mathematical problems, ...

and influenced many other mathematicians including

Stefan Banach Stefan Banach ( ; 30 March 1892 – 31 August 1945) was a Polish mathematician who is generally considered one of the 20th century's most important and influential mathematicians. He was the founder of modern functional analysis, and an original ...

Kazimierz Kuratowski Kazimierz Kuratowski (; 2 February 1896 – 18 June 1980) was a Polish mathematician and logician. He was one of the leading representatives of the Warsaw School of Mathematics. He worked as a professor at the University of Warsaw and at the Ma ...

, Stanisław Stożek, Antoni Nikliborc, Stefan Kaczmarz, Władysław Orlicz, and

Stanisław Mazur Stanisław Mieczysław Mazur (; 1 January 1905 – 5 November 1981) was a Polish mathematician and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Mazur made important contributions to geometrical methods in linear and nonlinear functional analysis ...

. In 1938, he became a member of the

Warsaw Scientific Society Warsaw Scientific Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie''; TNW) is a Polish scientific society based in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city o ...

(TNW). He worked on probability, calculus, statistics and mathematical cartography and wrote on the teaching of mathematics. His major works included ''Kartografia matematyczna'' (Warszawa 1927). Łomnicki was arrested on July 3, 1941 by the invading

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

s during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and shot along with several other professors (see Massacre of Lwów professors) the next day on the Wzgórza Wuleckie in Lwów. In December 1944

wrote the following tribute to Łomnicki: :A native of Lwów, he worked for over twenty years as a mathematics professor at the Lwów University of Technology. He prepared hundreds of

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s for their profession. I was his assistant. He was the first to instil in me the importance and responsibility of a professor’s task. He was an unrivalled

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, one of the best I ever knew. He was the author of many popular schoolbooks as well as

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

s on advanced analysis for technologists, surpassing in quality those published abroad. His work in the field of

was at a high level. Equally effective were his teaching and pedagogic efforts. Professor Łomnicki had tremendous energy and a great

work ethic Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. Desire or determination to work serves as the foundation for values centered on the i ...

.Emilia Jakimowicz and Adam Miranowicz (2011) ''Stefan Banach: Remarkable Life, Brilliant Mathematics'', 3rd edition, page 25, Gdańsk University Press,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lomnicki, Antoni 1881 births Lwów School of Mathematics Victims of the Massacre of Lwów professors Academic staff of Lviv Polytechnic Textbook writers 1941 deaths