Famous Russian Mathematicians

Leonhard Euler was a Swiss physicist, mathematician, logician, geographer, astronomer, and engineer. He is credited with making influential and important mathematical discoveries, such as graph theory and infinitesimal calculus. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific mathematicians of all time, Leonhard Euler also made pioneering contributions to analytic number theory and topology.

Russian business-tycoon, engineer, mathematician and government official Boris Berezovsky is counted among the famed Russian oligarchs who made their fortunes during the 1990s, when Russia was going through privatization of state property. He remained a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin since the latter’s election as president in 2000 and was granted political asylum by the UK in 2003.

Russian mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov lost his mother at birth and was raised by his aunts. His talent in mathematics was discovered when he joined the Moscow State University to study history and math, while simultaneously studying metallurgy elsewhere. His greatest contribution to mathematics was in the field of probability theory.

Though born to a ballet dancer father and a pianist mother, Alexander Friedmann grew up to be a talented mathematician and cosmologist. He had served as an aviator during World War I and later also taught. He died of typhoid at age 37 after eating a pear during his honeymoon.

Leonid Kantorovich was a Soviet economist and mathematician. Credited with founding linear programming, Kantorovich was honored with the prestigious Stalin Prize in 1949. In 1975, he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on the theory of optimum allocation of resources. He also made important contributions to functional analysis, operator theory, and approximation theory.

Wolf Prize-winning Ukrainian mathematician Vladimir Arnold is remembered for his research on singularity theory, dynamical systems, and differential equations. He had also authored several textbooks, such as Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics. His most important contribution was the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem.

Russian theologian Pavel Florensky is best remembered for his essay The Pillar and the Ground of Truth. During Stalin’s regime and amid a phase of national atheism, he was sent to jail and also banished to Siberia for his religious beliefs, which he refused to renounce.

Best known as the father of strategic management for devising the strategy model known as Ansoff’s matrix, Russian-American applied mathematician Igor Ansoff had also taught at the Carnegie Mellon University. He had also managed countless technology projects and consulted with companies such as IBM, Gulf, and General Electric.

Soviet scientist, mathematician, and explorer Otto Schmidt taught math at the University of Moscow and was associated with the Arctic Institute as its director. He also led the administration of the Northern Sea Route and was part of the first non-stop voyage from Arkhangelsk in Russia to the Pacific Ocean.