Ilya Vekua Georgian mathematician Date of Birth: 06.05.1907 Country: Georgia

Content:

1. Early Life and Education
2. University Education
3. Academic Career
4. Academy Membership
5. Leadership Positions
6. Founding and Leadership of Universities
7. Presidency of the Georgian Academy of Sciences
8. Political Involvement
9. Parliamentary Service
10. "Letter of the Three Hundred"

Early Life and Education

Birth and Childhood

Maka Vekua was born on April 23, 1907 (May 6, 1907, by the Gregorian calendar) in the village of Shesheleti, Georgia, into a farming family.

University Education

Vekua graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1930. He then pursued doctoral studies at Leningrad State University from 1930 to 1933.

Academic Career

Doctorate and Professorship

Vekua earned his doctorate in physical and mathematical sciences and became a professor in 1940.

Academy Membership

He was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR in 1944 and a full member in 1946. He also became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1946 and a full member in 1958.

Leadership Positions

Vekua served as the head of the Department of Theoretical Mechanics at the Moscow Physical-Technical Institute from 1951 to 1957. From 1954 to 1959, he was the deputy director of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics.

Founding and Leadership of Universities

Vekua was the first rector of Novosibirsk State University from 1959 to 1964. He then returned to Georgia to serve as the rector of Tbilisi State University from 1965 to 1972.

Presidency of the Georgian Academy of Sciences

Vekua served as president of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR from 1972 to 1977.

Political Involvement

Membership in the Communist Party

Vekua was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia from 1966 to 1977.

Parliamentary Service

He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1966 to 1977.
Legacy and Honors
Death and Burial

Vekua passed away on December 2, 1977, in Tbilisi. He was buried on Mtatsminda Mount.

"Letter of the Three Hundred"

Vekua was one of the signatories of the "Letter of Three Hundred" in 1955, which criticized the suppression of genetic research by the Soviet regime.

Mathematics

William Feller	Armand Borel	Liviu Libresku
Adolf Hurwitz	Gamlet Isahanlu	Emmy Noether