Early life

Iyanaga was born in Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on April 2, 1906. He studied at the University of Tokyo from 1926 to 1929. He studied under Teiji Takagi. As an undergraduate, he published two papers in the ''Japanese Journal of Mathematics'' and the ''Proceedings of the Imperial Academy of Tokyo''. Both of his papers appeared in print in 1928. After completing his undergraduate degree in 1929, he stayed at Tokyo and worked under Takagi for his doctorate. He completed his Ph.D. in mathematics 1931.

Years in Europe

In 1931, Iyanaga obtained a scholarship from the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

government. He also went to

Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

where he studied with Austrian mathematician

Emil Artin Emil Artin (; March 3, 1898 – December 20, 1962) was an Austrian mathematician of Armenian descent. Artin was one of the leading mathematicians of the twentieth century. He is best known for his work on algebraic number theory, contributing lar ...

. In 1932, he attended the

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

in Zurich. During his time in Europe, he met with top mathematicians such as Claude Chevalley,

Henri Cartan Henri Paul Cartan (; 8 July 1904 – 13 August 2008) was a French mathematician who made substantial contributions to algebraic topology. He was the son of the mathematician Élie Cartan, nephew of mathematician Anna Cartan, oldest brother of co ...

, and others.

Academic career

Iyanaga returned to Tokyo in 1934 and was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo. From 1935 to 1939, he didn't publish any research papers. According to Iyanaga, it was because of the pressure of teaching and other business to which he was not accustomed. He managed to solve a question of Artin on generalizing the principal ideal theorem and this was published in 1939. Iyanaga did publish many papers which arose through several courses such as algebraic topology, functional analysis, and geometry, which he taught. He became professor at the University of Tokyo in 1942. It was during World War II. Towards the end of the war, many Japanese cities were bombarded and he had to find refuge in the countryside. He was busy in editing textbooks from primary and secondary schools and he continued to give courses and organise seminars. After the end of the war, he joined the Science Council of Japan in 1947. He became a member of the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union in 1952. He was responsible for organizing the International Congress of Mathematicians in Amsterdam in 1954, which he attended. He was President of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction from 1957 to 1978. Iyanaga spent the year 1961-62 at the University of Chicago. He became Dean of the faculty of Science at the University of Tokyo in 1965, a position he held until his retirement in 1967. After his retirement, he was a visiting professor during 1967-68 at the University of Nancy in France. From 1967 to 1977, he was a professor at Gakushuin University in Tokyo.

Honors and awards

Iyanaga received several honors and awards for his work. He received the Rising Sun from Japan in 1976. He was elected a member of the Japan Academy in 1978. He received the Légion d'honneur in 1980.

Publications

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iyanaga, Shokichi 1906 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Japanese mathematicians 21st-century Japanese mathematicians Japanese centenarians Men centenarians Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class University of Tokyo alumni Academic staff of the University of Tokyo Academic staff of Nancy-Université Academic staff of Nagoya University