The Work of the Mathematician Leopoldo Nachbin (1922-1993) from FNFi

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the professional activity of Leopoldo Nachbin (1922-1993) in the period in which he worked at National Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Brazil (FNFi/UB, in Portuguese) until his retirement by Institute of Mathematics of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IM/UFRJ, in Portuguese). We identify the influence played by some mathematicians such as G. Mammana (1893-1980), L. Schwartz (1915-2002), A. Monteiro (1907-1980), A. Weil (1906-1998), J. Dieudonné (1906-1992), M. Stone (1903-1989), and A. A. Albert (1905-1972) in the professional training of L. Nachbin. We also address the serious difficulties he encountered in the Mathematics Department of FNFi when he was entered in the competition, opened in 1950, for the post of full Professor (Professor Catedrático) of Mathematics and Superior Analysis of FNFi. We emphasize in the paper, that the period from 1947 to the 1960s marks the most creative and productive phase in terms of scientific research in the academic life of L. Nachbin.

Keywords

• Leopoldo Nachbin
• Mathematical Analysis
• FNFi
• Brazilian mathematical community