Rafael Artzy (; 23 July 1912 – 22 August 2006) was an Israeli

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 ...

specializing in

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

Education and emigration

Artzy was born July 23, 1912, in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His father was Edward I. Deutschlander and his mother Ida Freudenheim. Rafael studied at Königsberg University from 1930 to 1933. He transferred to

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

and obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1934. He married Elly Iwiansky on October 12, 1934. Rafael continued his studies at Hebrew University under

Theodore Motzkin Theodore Samuel Motzkin (; 26 March 1908 – 15 December 1970) was an Israeli- American mathematician. Biography Motzkin's father Leo Motzkin, a Ukrainian Jew, went to Berlin at the age of thirteen to study mathematics. He pursued university ...

, obtaining a Ph.D. in 1945. Elly and Rafael raised three children: Ehud, Michal, and Barak. Ehud and Barak died before their father. Michal Artzy is

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in Marine Civilization at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. Rafael served as both teacher and principal of Israel High School from 1934 to 1951. He was an instructor and assistant professor at the Israel Institute of Technology from 1951 to 1956.

American tour

Rafael Artzy took up a position as research associate and lecturer at

University of Wisconsin, Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1956. That year he also made his first of many contributions to

Mathematical Reviews ''Mathematical Reviews'' is a journal published by the American Mathematical Society (AMS) that contains brief synopses, and in some cases evaluations, of many articles in mathematics, statistics, and theoretical computer science. The AMS also pu ...

. Artzy became

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1960. The following year

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

made him a full professor. In 1964 he was a visitor at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

. He wrote ''Linear Geometry'' (1965) which was favorably reviewed by H. S. M. Coxeter In 1965 Artzy was at

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

in Buffalo. In 1967 he joined

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

where he was for five years.

Return

In 1972 Rafael Artzy returned to Israel and participated in mathematics at Technion in Haifa. He helped organize a quadrennial conference on geometry at Haifa. For instance, in March 1979 such a conference was held and the proceedings ''Geometry and Differential Geometry'' was edited by Artzy and I. Vaisman and published as

Lecture Notes in Mathematics ''Lecture Notes in Mathematics'' is a book series in the field of mathematics, including articles related to both research and teaching. It was established in 1964 and was edited by A. Dold, Heidelberg and B. Eckmann, Zürich. Its publisher is Sp ...

#792. In 1992 he published ''Geometry. An Algebraic Approach''Rafael Artzy (1992) ''Geometry. An Algebraic Approach'', Bibliographisches Institute,
Review of ''Geometry'' by EJF Primrose
/ref> Artzy had made 224 contributions to ''Mathematical Reviews'' by his last submission in 1995.

References

* Allen G. Debus editor (1968) ''Who’s Who in Science'',

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

. *

Walter Benz Walter Benz (May 2, 1931 Lahnstein – January 13, 2017 Ratzeburg) was a German mathematician, an expert in geometry. Benz studied at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and received his doctoral degree in 1954, with Robert Furch as his ...

(2010) Rafael Artzy (1912–2006), '' Mitteilungen der Mathematischen Gesellschaft in Hamburg'' 29:5–7.

External links

* Joseph Zaks (2006
Rafael Artzy
from

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Artzy, Rafael 1912 births 2006 deaths Scientists from Königsberg People from East Prussia University of Königsberg alumni Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Israeli mathematicians Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Geometers Textbook writers