Ilie Popa (July 20, 1907 – July 26, 1983) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n mathematician and Head of the Mathematical Analysis Department at the University of Iași. He is known for his contributions to differential geometry,

mathematical analysis Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series (m ...

, and the history of mathematics. Born in Iași, he attended the

Costache Negruzzi High School The Costache Negruzzi National College (''Colegiul Național „Costache Negruzzi”'') in Iași is one of the most prestigious high schools in Romania. Founded in 1895 as the ''Boarding High School of Iași'', it was named after the writer and po ...

in his native city. In 1927 he enrolled at the University of Iași, graduating in 1931. Upon graduation, he became an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Science of the University of Iași and began his research activity under the guidance of his advisor,

Alexander Myller Alexander Myller (1879–1965) was a Romanian mathematician and professor at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași. References Romanian mathematicians 1879 births 1965 deaths Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Titula ...

. In 1932 Popa published his first papers (in differential geometry), in collaboration with . He obtained his Ph.D. in 1934 with thesis ''Contributions to Centro-Affine Differential Geometry'', in which he pursued research themes of his two mentors, Myller and Octav Mayer. In 1936, the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...

awarded him a two-year scholarship to pursue his postdoctoral studies in Italy and Germany; during this period, he visited

Enrico Bompiani Enrico Bompiani (12 February 1889 – 22 September 1975) was an Italian mathematician, specializing in differential geometry. Education and career Bompiani received his Ph.D. (laurea) in 1910 under Guido Castelnuovo at the Sapienza University ...

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

and Wilhelm Blaschke at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

. While away, he was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Higher Algebra at the University of Iași. After a brief stint in 1942 at the

Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași The Gheorghe Asachi Technical University ( ro, Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iași; acronym: TUIASI) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Classified by the Ministry of Education as an ''advanced research and educ ...

, he returned to the University of Iași as Professor. In 1948 he became the Head of the Mathematical Analysis Department, a position that he held until his retirement in 1973. From 1944 to 1945 and again from 1965 to 1971 he was

pro-rector Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic rank ...

of the University.

References

1907 births 1983 deaths Scientists from Iași Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty Romanian mathematicians Historians of mathematics Differential geometers Mathematical analysts {{Romania-academic-bio-stub