Octav Onicescu
Encyclopedia
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n mathematician
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....
, member of the Romanian Academy
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
, and founder of the Romanian school of probability theory
Probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single...
and 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....
.
Biography
He was born in BotoşaniBotosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...
, the son of Vlad Onicescu, from Ştefăneşti, Botoşani
Stefanesti, Botosani
Ştefăneşti is a small town in Botoşani County, Romania. It administers four villages: Bădiuţi, Bobuleşti, Stânca and Ştefăneşti-Sat.The painter Ştefan Luchian was born here, as well as Vlad Onicescu, the father of the mathematician Octav Onicescu...
, and Ana, from Oniceni
Oniceni
Oniceni is a commune in Neamţ County, Romania. It is composed of eleven villages: Ciornei, Gorun, Linseşti, Lunca, Mărmureni, Oniceni, Pietrosu, Poiana Humei, Pustieta, Solca and Valea Enei....
, Neamţ County
Neamt County
Neamț is a county of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. It has three communes, Bicaz-Chei, Bicazu Ardelean and Dămuc in Transylvania.-Demographics:...
. He graduated from the Botoşani August Treboniu Laurian
August Treboniu Laurian
August Treboniu Laurian was a Transylvanian Romanian politician, historian and linguist. He was born in the village of Fofeldea in Nocrich. He was a participant at the 1848 revolution, an organizer of the Romanian school and one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy.Laurian was a member...
Lyceum in 1911 with a perfect score of 10. That same year, he entered the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
, from where he graduated with degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy in 1913. From 1914 to 1916 he was a mathematics teacher at the military gymnasium of Dealu Monastery
Dealu Monastery
Dealu Monastery is a 15th century monastery in Dâmboviţa County, Romania, located 6 km north of Târgovişte.The church of the monastery is dedicated to Saint Nicholas.-Sources and external links:...
, near Târgovişte
Târgoviste
Târgoviște is a city in the Dâmbovița county of Romania. It is situated on the right bank of the Ialomiţa River. , it had an estimated population of 89,000. One village, Priseaca, is administered by the city.-Name:...
. From 1916 to 1918 he fought in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1919, Onicescu went to study geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
at the University of Rome
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
, under the guidance of Tullio Levi-Civita
Tullio Levi-Civita
Tullio Levi-Civita, FRS was an Italian mathematician, most famous for his work on absolute differential calculus and its applications to the theory of relativity, but who also made significant contributions in other areas. He was a pupil of Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, the inventor of tensor calculus...
. He earned his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in June, 1920 for a thesis titled Sopra gli spazi einsteinieni a gruppi continui di transformazione ("On Einstein manifold
Einstein manifold
In differential geometry and mathematical physics, an Einstein manifold is a Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian manifold whose Ricci tensor is proportional to the metric...
s and groups of continuous transformations"). The thesis, which dealt with problems in differential geometry related to Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
, was defended in front of a jury of 11 mathematicians, including Levi-Civita, Vito Volterra
Vito Volterra
Vito Volterra was an Italian mathematician and physicist, known for his contributions to mathematical biology and integral equations....
, and Guido Castelnuovo
Guido Castelnuovo
Guido Castelnuovo was an Italian mathematician. His father, Enrico Castelnuovo, was a novelist and campaigner for the unification of Italy...
.
In the Fall of 1920 he went to 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...
, where he gave talks in Jacques Hadamard
Jacques Hadamard
Jacques Salomon Hadamard FRS was a French mathematician who made major contributions in number theory, complex function theory, differential geometry and partial differential equations.-Biography:...
's seminar at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
. While in Paris, he organized a seminar with other Romanian mathematicians, including Petre Sergescu, Şerban Gheorghiu, Alexandru Pantazi, and Şerban Coculescu.
In 1922, he returned to Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, where he embarked on a 40-year long university career. In 1924, he started teaching the first college-level probability theory course in Romania. From 1928 on, he was professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
, and was appointed full professor in 1931. In 1930, he organized the School of Statistics and established an Institute of Calculus, serving as its director for many years. In 1936 he entered the Legionary Movement
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
. The Romanian poet and mathematician Ion Barbu
Ion Barbu
Ion Barbu was a distinguished Romanian mathematician and poet.He was born in Câmpulung-Muscel, Argeş County, the son of Constantin Barbilian and Smaranda, born Şoiculescu. He attended Ion Brătianu High School in Piteşti and Gheorghe Lazăr High School in Bucharest...
(Dan Barbilian) was a close friend of his.
He was elected corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1933, and became full member on February 4, 1965. He was in charge of the Probability Theory section of the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy
Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy
The Institute of Mathematics "Simion Stoilow" of the Romanian Academy is a research institute in Bucharest, specialized in Mathematics. It was named after Simion Stoilow, who was its first Director, in 1949. In 1974 Nicolae Ceauşescu's daughter Zoia was permitted into the institute because of her...
.
He died in Bucharest on the eve of his 91st birthday, after a short illness.
Legacy
Onicescu was one of the founders of the Balkan Union of Mathematicians (in 1934) and of the International Centre for Mechanical Sciences in UdineUdine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
(in 1968).
The "Octav Onicescu" museum, founded in Botoşani in October 1995, houses furniture and memorabilia that belonged to him, including manuscripts, letters, diplomas, books, photographs, and military decorations. The memorial house doesn't exist anymore.