Bruno Abakanowicz
Encyclopedia
Bruno Abdank-Abakanowicz (October 6, 1852 – August 29, 1900) was a mathematician
, inventor and electrical engineer.
, Lithuania
, then part of the Russian Empire
. After graduating from the Riga Technical University
, Abakanowicz passed his habilitation
and began an assistantship at the Technical University of Lwów
. In 1881, he moved to France where he purchased a villa
in Parc St. Maur
on the outskirts of Paris
.
Earlier he invented the integraph
, a form of the integrator
, which was patented in 1880, and was henceforth produced by the Swiss firm Coradi. Among his other patents were the parabolagraph, the spirograph
, the electric bell used in trains, and an electric arc
lamp of his own design. Abakanowicz published several works, including works on statistics
, integrator
s and numerous popular scientific works, such as one describing his integraph
. He was also hired by the French government as an expert on electrification and was the main engineer behind the electrification of, among other places, the city of Lyon
. His patents allowed him to become a wealthy man and made him receive the Legion d'Honneur
in 1889.
Around that time he retired to a small island in Trégastel
, off the coast of Brittany
, where between 1892 and 1896 he erected a neo-Gothic manor. Although the construction works were not finished in Abakanowicz's lifetime, the castle of Costaérès became a notable centre of Polish
emigree culture, housing many notable artists, scientists and politicians. Among frequent guests of Abakanowicz were Aleksander Gierymski
, Władysław Mickiewicz, Leon Wyczółkowski and Henryk Sienkiewicz
. The latter became the closest friend of Abakanowicz. It was in Abakanowicz's villa in Parc St. Maur that he finished his The Teutonic Knights
and The Polaniecki Family, while the Quo Vadis
novel, one of the works for which Sienkiewicz was awarded with the Nobel Prize
, was written entirely in Abakanowicz's manor.
Bruno Abakanowicz died suddenly on August 29, 1900. In his will, he made Sienkiewicz the tutor of his sole daughter Zofia, who later graduated from the London School of Economics
and the Sorbonne
and was murdered during World War II
at the Auschwitz concentration camp
.
As for Abakanowicz's nationality, he was born in the lands which were once part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
. Some later documents refer to him as a Russian
because at the time of his birth, Ukmergė
was part of the Russian Empire
. Encyclopædia Britannica
calls him a Lithuania
n mathematician in its article on the integraph
. Others consider him a Pole
due to his fluent command of the language, friendship with many leading Polish personalities of the time, and literary contributions in Polish.
His surname Abakanowicz
which has Lipka Tatar roots goes back to the szlachta
of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
under the Abdank Coat of Arms
.
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, inventor and electrical engineer.
Life and Nationality
Abakanowicz was born in 1852 in VilkmergėUkmerge
-Early history:Ukmergė was first mentioned as a settlement in 1333. It was essentially a wooden fortress that stood on a hill, near the confluence of the Vilkmergė River and the Šventoji River. Ukmergė was attacked by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order in 1333, 1365, 1378, 1386, and even...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. After graduating from the Riga Technical University
Riga Technical University
Riga Technical University is located in Riga, Latvia.- Riga Polytechnical Institute, 1862-1918 :...
, Abakanowicz passed his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
and began an assistantship at the Technical University of Lwów
Lviv Polytechnic
Lviv Polytechnic National University is the largest scientific university in Lviv. Since its foundation in 1844, it was one of the most important centres of science and technological development in Central Europe. In the interbellum period, the Polytechnic was one of the most important technical...
. In 1881, he moved to France where he purchased a villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
in Parc St. Maur
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.7 km. from the center of Paris.-The abbey:...
on the outskirts of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Earlier he invented the integraph
Integraph
An Integraph is an instrument used in mathematics for plotting the integral of a graphically defined function.It was invented independently about 1880 by the British physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys and by Bruno Abakanowicz, a Polish-Lithuanian mathematician from the Russian Empire.An integraph...
, a form of the integrator
Integrator
An integrator is a device to perform the mathematical operation known as integration, a fundamental operation in calculus.The integration function is often part of engineering, physics, mechanical, chemical and scientific calculations....
, which was patented in 1880, and was henceforth produced by the Swiss firm Coradi. Among his other patents were the parabolagraph, the spirograph
Spirograph
Spirograph is a geometric drawing toy that produces mathematical curves of the variety technically known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. The term has also been used to describe a variety of software applications that display similar curves, and applied to the class of curves that can be produced...
, the electric bell used in trains, and an electric arc
Electric arc
An electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. A synonym is arc discharge. An arc discharge is characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge, and relies on...
lamp of his own design. Abakanowicz published several works, including works on statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, integrator
Integrator
An integrator is a device to perform the mathematical operation known as integration, a fundamental operation in calculus.The integration function is often part of engineering, physics, mechanical, chemical and scientific calculations....
s and numerous popular scientific works, such as one describing his integraph
Integraph
An Integraph is an instrument used in mathematics for plotting the integral of a graphically defined function.It was invented independently about 1880 by the British physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys and by Bruno Abakanowicz, a Polish-Lithuanian mathematician from the Russian Empire.An integraph...
. He was also hired by the French government as an expert on electrification and was the main engineer behind the electrification of, among other places, the city of Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. His patents allowed him to become a wealthy man and made him receive the Legion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1889.
Around that time he retired to a small island in Trégastel
Trégastel
Trégastel is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of the region of Brittany in northwestern France.Trégastel is situated between Perros-Guirec and Pleumeur-Bodou...
, off the coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, where between 1892 and 1896 he erected a neo-Gothic manor. Although the construction works were not finished in Abakanowicz's lifetime, the castle of Costaérès became a notable centre of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
emigree culture, housing many notable artists, scientists and politicians. Among frequent guests of Abakanowicz were Aleksander Gierymski
Aleksander Gierymski
Ignacy Aleksander Gierymski was a Polish painter of the late 19th century. He was the younger brother of Maksymilian Gierymski, equally renowned Polish watercolour painter....
, Władysław Mickiewicz, Leon Wyczółkowski and Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
. The latter became the closest friend of Abakanowicz. It was in Abakanowicz's villa in Parc St. Maur that he finished his The Teutonic Knights
The Teutonic Knights (novel)
The Knights of the Cross or The Teutonic Knights is a 1900 historical novel written by the eminent Polish Modernist writer and the 1905 Nobel laureate, Henryk Sienkiewicz...
and The Polaniecki Family, while the Quo Vadis
Quo Vadis (novel)
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero, commonly known as Quo Vadis, is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz in Polish. Quo vadis is Latin for "Where are you going?" and alludes to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, in which Peter flees Rome but on his way meets Jesus and asks him why he...
novel, one of the works for which Sienkiewicz was awarded with the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
, was written entirely in Abakanowicz's manor.
Bruno Abakanowicz died suddenly on August 29, 1900. In his will, he made Sienkiewicz the tutor of his sole daughter Zofia, who later graduated from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
and the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and was murdered during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
at the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
As for Abakanowicz's nationality, he was born in the lands which were once part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
. Some later documents refer to him as a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
because at the time of his birth, Ukmergė
Ukmerge
-Early history:Ukmergė was first mentioned as a settlement in 1333. It was essentially a wooden fortress that stood on a hill, near the confluence of the Vilkmergė River and the Šventoji River. Ukmergė was attacked by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order in 1333, 1365, 1378, 1386, and even...
was part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
calls him a Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n mathematician in its article on the integraph
Integraph
An Integraph is an instrument used in mathematics for plotting the integral of a graphically defined function.It was invented independently about 1880 by the British physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys and by Bruno Abakanowicz, a Polish-Lithuanian mathematician from the Russian Empire.An integraph...
. Others consider him a Pole
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
due to his fluent command of the language, friendship with many leading Polish personalities of the time, and literary contributions in Polish.
His surname Abakanowicz
Abakanowicz
Abakanowicz is a surname originating from the szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the Abdank Coat of Arms in Polish Heraldry.-History:The Abakanowicz family is of Tatar descent...
which has Lipka Tatar roots goes back to the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
under the Abdank Coat of Arms
.
Works
- Les intégraphes. La courbe intégrale et ses applications, Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1886. Translated into German as Die Integraphen. Die Integralkurve und ihre Anwendungen, Leipzig, Teubner, 1889.
Mathematical contributions
- http://www.mathcurve.com/courbes2d/abdank/abdank.shtmlDescription of Abdank-Abakanowicz quadratrixQuadratrixIn mathematics, a quadratrix is a curve having ordinates which are a measure of the area of another curve. The two most famous curves of this class are those of Dinostratus and E. W...
]
