Ivan Ivanovich Zhegalkin (; 3 August 1869,

Mtsensk Mtsensk () is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Zusha River (a tributary of the Oka) northeast of Oryol, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 28,000 (1970). History It was first mentioned in the Nikon Chronic ...

– 28 March 1947,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

) was a Russian and Soviet

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He is best known for his formulation of

Boolean algebra In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra. It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variable (mathematics), variables are the truth values ''true'' and ''false'', usually denot ...

as the theory of the ring of integers mod 2, via what are now called

Zhegalkin polynomial Zhegalkin (also Žegalkin, Gégalkine or Shegalkin) polynomials (), also known as algebraic normal form, are a representation of functions in Boolean algebra. Introduced by the Russian mathematician Ivan Ivanovich Zhegalkin in 1927, they are t ...

s. Zhegalkin was professor of mathematics at

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

. He helped found the thriving

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

group there, which became the Department of Mathematical Logic established by

Sofya Yanovskaya Sofya Aleksandrovna Yanovskaya (also Janovskaja; ; 31 January 1896 – 24 October 1966) was a Soviet mathematician, philosopher and historian, specializing in the history of mathematics, mathematical logic, and philosophy of mathematics. She is b ...

in 1959. Reminiscing on his student days,

Nikolai Luzin Nikolai Nikolayevich Luzin (also spelled Lusin; rus, Никола́й Никола́евич Лу́зин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ˈluzʲɪn, a=Ru-Nikilai Nikilayevich Luzin.ogg; 9 December 1883 – 28 February 1950) was a Sov ...

recalls Zhegalkin as the only professor he was not afraid of.

References

* * * * (NB. German translation of ''булевы алгебры'', 1969.) * * (NB. Circulation: 1000.)

External links

* http://letopis.msu.ru/peoples/923 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhegalkin, Ivan Ivanovich 1869 births 1947 deaths Mathematicians from the Russian Empire People from Mtsensk Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet logicians Soviet mathematicians Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery