Famous Russian Mathematicians

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 1 
Leonhard Euler
(Mathematician, Physicist)
Leonhard Euler
37
Birthdate: April 15, 1707
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Basel
Died: September 18, 1783

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.

 2 
Grigori Perelman
(Mathematician)
Grigori Perelman
37
Birthdate: June 13, 1966
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman is best known for his work on geometry, especially Riemannian geometry, geometric analysis, and geometric topology. He declined many prizes, such as the Fields Medal and the Millennium Prize. His proof of the Poincaré conjecture was named the Breakthrough of the Year by Science magazine.
 3 
Georg Cantor
(Mathematician)
Georg Cantor
20
Birthdate: March 3, 1845
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died: January 6, 1918
Georg Cantor is remembered as the man behind the set theory of mathematics. Not known to many, he was a skilled violinist, too. He was one of the first to explore infinity. His final years were riddled with mental ailments, when he believed Shakespeare’s plays were written by Francis Bacon.
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 4 
Nikolai Lobachevsky
(Mathematician)
Nikolai Lobachevsky
8
Birthdate: December 1, 1792
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Died: February 24, 1856
 5 
Andrey Kolmogorov
(Russian Mathematician Who Contributed to ‘Probability Theory’, ‘Probability Space’, ‘Topology’, ‘Intuitionistic Logic’ and ‘Turbulence Studies’)
Andrey Kolmogorov
7
Birthdate: April 25, 1903
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Tambov, Russia
Died: October 20, 1987

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.

 6 
Andrey Markov
(Mathematician)
Andrey Markov
9
Birthdate: June 14, 1856
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Ryazan, Russia
Died: July 20, 1922
 7 
Boris Berezovsky
(Russian Business Oligarch, Government Official, Engineer and Mathematician)
Boris Berezovsky
15
Birthdate: January 23, 1946
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Died: March 23, 2013

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.

 8 
Pafnuty Chebyshev
(Considered to Be the Founding Father of Russian Mathematics)
Pafnuty Chebyshev
5
Birthdate: May 16, 1821
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Zhukovsky District, Russia
Died: December 8, 1894
 9 
Alexander Friedmann
(Physicist and Mathematician Best Known for His Pioneering Theory That the Universe Was Expanding)
Alexander Friedmann
7
Birthdate: June 16, 1888
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
Died: September 16, 1925

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.

 10 
Edward Frenkel
(Russian-American Mathematician)
Edward Frenkel
7
Birthdate: May 2, 1968
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Kolomna, Russia
 11 
Aleksandr Lyapunov
(mathematician, physicist)
Aleksandr Lyapunov
8
Birthdate: June 6, 1857
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Yaroslavl
Died: November 3, 1918
 12 
Leonid Kantorovich
(Russian Mathematician and Winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Economics)
Leonid Kantorovich
7
Birthdate: January 19, 1912
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died: April 7, 1986

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.

 13 
Vladimir Voevodsky
(Mathematician)
Vladimir Voevodsky
8
Birthdate: June 4, 1966
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Died: September 30, 2017
 14 
Vladimir Arnold
(Wolf Prize-Winning Ukrainian Mathematician)
Vladimir Arnold
8
Birthdate: June 12, 1937
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Odessa, Ukraine
Died: June 3, 2010

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.

 15 
Israel Gelfand
(Mathematician)
Israel Gelfand
5
Birthdate: September 2, 1913
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Kherson Governorate
Died: October 5, 2009
 16 
Maxim Kontsevich
(Mathematician, Topologist)
Maxim Kontsevich
7
Birthdate: August 25, 1964
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Khimki
 17 
Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov
(Russian-French Mathematician)
Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov
5
Birthdate: December 23, 1943
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Boksitogorsk, Russia
 18 
Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko
(Mathematician,)
Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko
4
Birthdate: March 13, 1945
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Donetsk, Ukraine
 19 
Pavel Florensky
(Theologian)
Pavel Florensky
5
Birthdate: January 22, 1882
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Yevlakh, Azerbaijan
Died: December 8, 1943

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.

 20 
Stanislav Smirnov
(Mathematician, University teacher)
Stanislav Smirnov
4
Birthdate: September 3, 1970
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg
 21 
Leonid Khachiyan
(Mathematician)
Leonid Khachiyan
4
Birthdate: May 3, 1952
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
Died: April 29, 2005
 22 
Sofia Kovalevskaya
(Mathematician)
Sofia Kovalevskaya
4
Birthdate: January 15, 1850
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Died: February 10, 1891
 23 
Christian Goldbach
(Mathematician)
Christian Goldbach
3
Birthdate: March 18, 1690
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Königsberg
Died: November 20, 1764
 24 
Igor Ansoff
(Mathematician, Economist, University teacher)
Igor Ansoff
5
Birthdate: December 12, 1918
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Vladivostok
Died: July 14, 2002

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.

 25 
Grigory Margulis
(Mathematician)
Grigory Margulis
4
Birthdate: February 24, 1946
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
 26 
Vladimir Drinfeld
(Mathematician)
Vladimir Drinfeld
4
Birthdate: February 14, 1954
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
 27 
Johann Euler
(Astronomer, Mathematician)
Johann Euler
4
Birthdate: November 27, 1734
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died: September 17, 1800
 28 
Andrei Okounkov
(Mathematician)
Andrei Okounkov
5
Birthdate: June 26, 1969
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
 29 
Otto Schmidt
(Pioneering Soviet Scientist, Explorer, and Math Professor)
Otto Schmidt
4
Birthdate: September 30, 1891
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Mahilyow, Belarus
Died: September 7, 1956

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.

 30 
Yakov Sinai
(Mathematician)
Yakov Sinai
4
Birthdate: September 21, 1935
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
 31 
Nikolai Zhukovsky
(Russian Scientist, Mathematician and Engineer)
Nikolai Zhukovsky
3
Birthdate: January 17, 1847
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Orekhovo, Moscow, Russia
Died: March 17, 1921
 32 
Efim Isaakovich Zelmanov
(Mathematician)
Efim Isaakovich Zelmanov
4
Birthdate: September 7, 1955
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Khabarovsk, Russia
 33 
Pavel Sergeevich Aleksandrov
(Mathematician)
Pavel Sergeevich Aleksandrov
3
Birthdate: May 7, 1896
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Noginsk, Russia
Died: November 16, 1982
 34 
Viktor Sadovnichiy
(Mathematician, winner of the 1989 USSR State Prize,)
Viktor Sadovnichiy
2
Birthdate: April 3, 1939
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Krasnopavlivka, Ukraine
 35 
Yakov Perelman
(Writer, Mathematician)
Yakov Perelman
2
Birthdate: December 4, 1882
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: BiaƂystok, Poland
Died: March 16, 1942
 36 
Ivan Vinogradov
(Mathematician)
Ivan Vinogradov
1
Birthdate: September 14, 1891
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Velikoluksky District, Russia
Died: March 20, 1983
 37 
Avraham Trahtman
(Mathematician)
Avraham Trahtman
1
Birthdate: February 10, 1944
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Nev'yanskiy Rayon, Russia
 38 
Theophan Prokopovich
(Russian-Ukrainian Theologian, Writer, Philosopher, and Mathematician)
Theophan Prokopovich
1
Birthdate: June 18, 1681
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Kyiv, Ukraine
Died: September 19, 1736