Professor, dean and rector of Saratov university Vladimir V. Golubev. 1. “…I left the university with a clear awareness of what I would do next”

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The outstanding mathematician and mechanic Vladimir V. Golubev (1884–1954) is the key figure in the history of the formation of physics and mathematics education and science at Saratov University. He worked at Saratov State University from 1918 to 1930, acting as professor and head of the department of pure mathematics (all years), dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (1918–1919), vice-rector (1920) and rector (1921–1922). V. V. Golubev highly appreciated the years of his work in Saratov as the years of his maturation as a scientist and teacher of higher education. He is a profound scientist in the field of the theory of analytic functions, a recognized classic of subsonic aerodynamics in Russia. In 1934 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The article is devoted to the life and work of V. V. Golubev. It is divided into three parts in accordance with three time periods: the period preceding the work of V. V. Golubev in Saratov; the period of educational, scientific, organizational and educational activities at Saratov University; the period of work in subsequent years in Moscow at Moscow State University and Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. The titles of the first two parts (“… I left the university with a clear awareness of what I would do next” and “The twelve-year stay in Saratov played an exceptional meaning in my life”) are quotations from the memoirs by V. V. Golubev. The title of the third part is a harmonious poetic assessment of a remarkable personality: “… His name meant brilliance, harmony and beauty”.Materials and Methods: Part 1 presents the biographical data by V. V. Golubev for 1884–1917. On the basis of the personal file from the archive of Saratov University, his date of birth is unambiguously named: November 21 (December 3) 1884. The role of the family in creating conditions for his intellectual development in adolescence is reflected, the high level of teaching in the Moscow first gymnasium, in which he studied at 1895–1903, a wonderful teaching staff at the Mathematics Department of Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow University, which he graduated from in the spring of 1908. The peculiarities of the preparation at the beginning of the 20th century of university graduates left to prepare for a professorship are noted: a voluminous program of master’s exams, foreign trips to the best European universities, public defense of a master’s thesis. The article describes the work that contributed to the formation of Vladimir V. Golubev as a brilliant teacher in the best secondary and higher educational institutions of Moscow. Conclusion: In October 1917, Vladimir V. Golubev was elected professor at the Department of Pure Mathematics of Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Saratov University. By this time, he had formed life goals and priorities – to look for practical applications of pure mathematics, to develop methods and techniques that contribute to the interested and conscious mastery of knowledge by students.

Keywords

• vladimir v. golubev
• lomonosov moscow state university
• faculty of physics and mathematics
• saratov state university