Mathematica Slovaca

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Mathematica Slovaca

Anatolij Dvurečenskij

Academician Štefan Schwarz (1914--1996)

Mathematica Slovaca, Vol. 46 (1996), No. 4, 433--434 Persistent URL: http://dml.cz/dmlcz/136681

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A C A D E M I C I A N ŠTEFAN SCHWARZ (1914-1996)

Two years ago we have celebrated t h e 80th birthday of an o u t s t a n d i n g Slovak m a t h e m a t i - cian, Academician Stefan Schwarz, t h e world-wide recognized specialist in theory of semigroups and number theory. We now have to announce t h a t Academician Stefan Schwarz suddenly died on December 6, 1996.

Professor Stefan Schwarz was born on May 18, 1914 a t Nove Mesto nad Vahom. After his university studies a t Charles University in Prague in 1936 (he was a student of Prof. K. Petr (1868 1950)), he became Assistant Professor a t t h e M a t h e m a t i c a l I n s t i t u t e of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and later in 1939, due t o turbulent pre-war time he moved back to Slovakia and he became a member of t h e staff of t h e newly established Slovak Technical University in Martin and later in Bratislava.

In 1944, he was deported and imprisoned in a German concentration camp, from where he was liberated in 1945. Both his sisters died in such camps.

In 1946, lie was appointed Associate Professor a t t h e Faculty of Science in Bratislava (thesis "Theory of semigroups" written in 1943) and since 1947 he became Full Professor at the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava. Until 1979 he was Head of M a t h e m a t i c a l Department of the Electrical Engineering Faculty, Slovak Technical University, until 1982 a member of the staff, and until 1985 an external collaborator of this department. He was elected a corresponding member (in 1952) and a member of t h e Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (in 1960). In 1953, he also became one of the 12 founding members of the new established Slovak Academy of Sciences. In t h e years 1 9 6 5 - 1970, he was President of t h e Slovak Academy of Sciences and Vice-President of t h e Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Since 1966 until 1988 be was Director of t h e M a t h e m a t i c a l I n s t i t u t e , Slovak Academy of Sciences, in 1994, he was awarded Doctor h.c. of technical sciences. Until t h e last day of his life he was an active fellow-worker of the M a t h e m a t i c a l I n s t i t u t e . . .

Professor S. Schwarz belonged t o the zero generation of Slovak m a t h e m a t i c i a n s (together with Prof. J u r Hronec ( 1 8 8 1 - 1 9 5 9 ) ) , and he was a supervisor of practically the whole first Slovak m a t h e m a t i c a l generation, and a teacher of t h o u s a n d s Slovak technicians. (Among the undergraduates students, there was a popular slogan "If you d o n t understand the lectures of Prof. Schwarz, go away and try to study something else t h a n technical subject.") His scientific seminars and lectures for "adult m a t h e m a t i c i a n s " were very famous in Bratislava.

His scientific interests have been devoted t o semigroup theory (he was one of t h e founders of tliis topic), theory of finite fields, number theory, stochastic and Boolean matrices, and his important and very deep scientific results have been published in 6 monographs and more t h a n 100 articles. He s u b m i t t e d his last paper this year.

Professor Stefan Schwarz was the founder of M a t h e m a t i c a Slovaca and its long-year Editor- in-Chief, and lie was one of the most i m p o r t a n t personalities and organizers of the scientific life in Slovakia. Slice his student times he was a member of t h e Czechoslovak Union of M a t h e m a t i - cians and Physicists, and later he became its Honorary member. He was not only o u t s t a n d i n g mathematician but also a person interested in public life.

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ACADEMICIAN STEFAN SCHWARZ (1914-1996)

Since this is not a place to give a complete characterization of the whole activity of Aca- demician Stefan Schwarz, we recommend to a more interested reader the article (with the complete publication list (until 1994) Jakubik, J. Kolibiar, M.: Eighty years of Professor Stefan Schwarz, M a t h . Slovaca 4 4 (1994), i x).

Prof. S. Schwarz was an outstanding m a t h e m a t i c i a n , and our teacher, colleague, friend and father. We deeply defer to the work and the h u m a n message left by him to all of us.

Anatolij Dvurecenskij

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