Ralph Tambs Lyche (6 September 1890 – 15 January 1991) was a Norwegian

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 was born in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

as a son of Norwegian father

Hans Tambs Lyche Hans Tambs Lyche ( 21 November 1859 – 16 April 1898) was a Norwegian engineer, Unitarian minister, journalist, and magazine editor. Background Hans Tambs Lyche was born in Fredrikshald, in Østfold county, Norway. His parents were Wilh ...

(1859–1898) and American mother Mary Rebecca Godden (1856–1938). He moved to Norway at the age of two. He finished his secondary education in Fredrikstad in 1908, and was hired as an assistant for Richard Birkeland at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

in 1910. At the same time he studied at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

, graduating with the cand.real. degree in 1916. He was hired as a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

in mathematics at the

in 1918. He took his doctorate in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

in 1927 following a two-year fellowship there. In 1937 he was promoted to professor, a position he held until 1950. He was then a professor at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

until his retirement in 1961, then a visiting professor at the

University of Colorado, Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

from 1961 to 1962. His fields were

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 ( ...

, function theory,

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

and

number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...

. He penned about 60 mathematical works, and also a few publications in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

; he was a hobby herbarist. He also became widely known for his mathematical textbooks, both for the upper secondary school (''Matematikk for den høgre skolen'') and another for technical colleges and universities (''Lærebok i matematisk analyse''). He was an editorial board member of the journal ''Nordisk Matematisk Tidsskrift'' from 1954 to 1960. He was a member of the

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (, DKNVS) is a Norway, Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The society's Protector is King Harald V of ...

from 1927, and of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

from 1929. From 1946 to 1950 he was the secretary-general of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, and he chaired the

Norwegian Mathematical Society The Norwegian Mathematical Society (, NMF) is a professional society for mathematicians. It was formed in 1918, with Carl Størmer elected as its first president. It organizes mathematical contests and the annual Abel symposium and also awards th ...

from 1953 to 1959 and the Norwegian Botanical Society from 1957 to 1959. He chaired the Student Society in Trondheim in 1920, and later held speeches during political meetings there. He was a member of Clarté, affiliated with ''

Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norway, Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party until 1925. After World War II, many of its former members were ...

''. He denounced communism after the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

of 1939. During the

martial law in Trondheim in 1942 During the occupation of Norway by Germany, the occupying powers imposed martial law in Trondheim and other surrounding areas, effective October 6, 1942 through October 12, 1942. During this time, 34 Norwegians were killed by extrajudicial execut ...

, organized by the occupying Nazi authorities, he was imprisoned at

Falstad concentration camp Falstad concentration camp ( or ) was situated in the village of Ekne in what was Skogn Municipality (now part of Levanger Municipality in Trøndelag county) in Norway. It was used mostly for political prisoners from Nazism, Nazi-occupied territor ...

. He was one of the first prisoners there; he had the prisoner number 53. He avoided execution unlike some others who were arrested during martial law, but he remained imprisoned from 9 March 1942 to 3 August 1943. Ralph Tambs Lyche was the father of solidarity activist Guri Tambs Lyche. His wife Elsa was a pioneer in maternal hygiene work. He died in January 1991, at the age of 100.

References

External links

Ralph Tambs Lyche personal archive
exists at NTNU University Librar
Dorabiblioteket
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tambs Lyche, Ralph 1890 births 1991 deaths Norwegian mathematicians University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the Norwegian Institute of Technology Academic staff of the University of Oslo Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Norwegian people of American descent Norwegian expatriates in France Mot Dag Norwegian resistance members Falstad concentration camp survivors Norwegian men centenarians Presidents of the Norwegian Mathematical Society