◀ ▲ ▶History / 19th-century / Person: Janovskaja, Sof'ja Aleksandrovna
Person: Janovskaja, Sof'ja Aleksandrovna
Sof'ja Aleksandrovna Janovskaja was a Polish-born mathematician who worked on the philosophy of mathematics and logic.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- In 1905 Odessa was the site of a workers' uprising, and the murder of hundreds of citizens must have had a large influence on the nine year old Sof'ja.
- Sof'ja Neimark entered the Higher School for Women in Odessa in 1915; this was part of the Novorossiisk University of Odessa.
- Realising this need, in 1923 Janovskaja felt it her duty to return to her studies, and she began attending seminars at Moscow State University.
- By 1925 Janovskaja was leading a seminar on mathematical methodology at Moscow State University, becoming a member of the faculty in the following year.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein visited Janovskaja and told her that he was intending to relocate to the USSR.
- However, he was persuaded to give up the idea by Janovskaja.
- Janovskaja was evacuated, along with other Moscow University faculty and students, to Perm (which had been renamed Molotov in 1940) and there she taught courses in the Department of General Algebra.
- Janovskaja worked on the philosophy of mathematics and logic.
- Janovskaja published two major studies of the history of mathematical logic in the USSR between 1917 and 1957.
- An important aspect of Janovskaja's work was in translating into Russian and editing works of high international repute in mathematical logic.
- Finally let us look at a couple of examples of Janovskaja's work.
- One example of the need for mathematical rigour, Janovskaja claims, is the fact that the three classical Greek problems were not solved until they had been framed more rigorously.
- Among the honours which were given to Janovskaja was the Order of Lenin in 1951.
- Despite the tragic life and fate of her mentally ill son, Janovskaja paid much attention to her numerous pupils and fostered logical investigations in the USSR -- apparently absolutely forgetting what she had intensively written and proclaimed only 15 years before.
Born 31 January 1896, Pruzhany, Russian Empire (now Belarus). Died 24 October 1966, Moscow, USSR.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Belarus, Women
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
