Otto Schmidt | |
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Portrait of Otto Schmidt by Mikhail Nesterov (1937)
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Born | 30 September [O.S. 18 September] 1891 Mogilyov, Russian Empire |
Died | 7 September 1956 Moscow, Soviet Union |
(aged 64)
Nationality | Soviet |
Fields |
Mathematics Astronomy Geophysics |
Alma mater | University of Kiev |
Doctoral advisor | Dmitry Grave |
Known for | His work in mathematics, Arctic exploration |
Notable awards | Hero of the Soviet Union |
Otto Yulyevich Schmidt (Russian: Отто Юльевич Шмидт; September 30 [O.S. September 18] 1891 — September 7, 1956) was a Soviet scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesman, academician, Hero of the USSR (27 June 1937), and member of the Communist Party.
He was born in Mogilev, Russian Empire (now Belarus). His father was a descendant of German settlers in Courland, while his mother was a Latvian. In 1912-13 while on university he published a number of mathematical works on group theory which laid foundation for Krull–Schmidt theorem.
In 1913, Schmidt married Vera Yanitskaia and graduated from the University of Kiev, where he worked as a privat-docent starting from 1916. After the October Revolution of 1917, he was a board member at several People's Commissariats (narkomats) – such as Narkomprod from 1918 to 1920 (Narodnyi Komissariat Prodovolstviya, or People's Commissariat for Supplies), People's Commissariat for Finance from 1921 to 1922 (Narodnyi Komissariat Finansov, or People's Commissariat for Finances). Schmidt was one of the chief proponents of developing the higher education system, publishing, and science in Soviet Russia.