Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky

Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky (Russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Лобаче́вский, 1792–1856) was a Russian mathematician. He became known for his achievements in non-Euclidean geometry.

Nikolay Ivanovich Lobachevsky

Biography

Lobachevsky was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. His parents were Ivan Maksimovich Lobachevsky, a clerk in a landsurveying office, and Praskovia Alexandrovna Lobachevskaya. In 1800, his father died and his mother moved to Kazan. In Kazan, Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky attended Kazan Gymnasium. He graduated in 1807 and then went to Kazan University which was founded just three years earlier, in 1804.

At Kazan University, Lobachevsky was influenced by professor Johann Christian Martin Bartels (1769–1833). Bartels was a former teacher and friend of German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. Lobachevsky received a Master's degree in physics and mathematics in 1811. In 1814, he became a lecturer at Kazan University, and in 1822 he became a full professor. He served in many administrative positions and was the rector of Kazan University from 1827 to 1846. He retired (or was dismissed) in 1846. After this event his health rapidly deteriorated. In addition to teaching mathematics and physics at Kazan University Lobachevsky also was an astronomy teacher there.

In 1832, he married Varvara Alexivna Moisieva. They had seven children.