Ukrainian Mathematical Journal, Vol. 53, No. 3, 2001

OLEKSII MYKOLAJOVYCH BOHOLYUBOV(ON HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY)

March 25, 2001 was the 90th birthday of Oleksii Mykolajovych Boholyubov, one of the leading experts in thehistory of science in Ukraine, the author of fundamental works in the history of mechanics and mathematics, a Cor-responding Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (1969), Doctor of Technical Sciences (1966), and Pro-fessor (1972).

Oleksii Boholyubov was born on March 25, 1911 in Nezhin (Chernigov region). Upon graduating from theDepartment of Physics and Mathematics at the Kharkov University (1936) and the Department of Mechanics at theKharkov Institute of Mechanics and Engineering (1938), he worked for a certain period of time as an engineer atseveral mechanical-engineering institutions. In 1937–1941, he was an organizer and the head of a school for Span-ish children and worked as a teacher at this school. In 1963 – 1975, he worked at the Department of History ofNatural Sciences and Technology at the Institute of History of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Since 1975, hehas worked at the Institute of Mathematics of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. At the beginning of the 1960s,O. Boholyubov began his intense scientific work aimed at the investigation of problems of the history of mathe-matics and mechanics. Having a good command of many foreign languages, O. Boholyubov initiated a deep inves-tigation of the history of development of the mechanics of machines. His historical and scientific concept has foundits embodiment in the fundamental monograph History of Mechanics of Machines (1964) and in the essay Mathe-matical Life in the USSR published in the third volume of History of National Mathematics. According to thisconcept, the history of science must be considered in a close connection with general history, history of culture, andeconomical development.

A tireless organizer of science, O. Boholyubov took part in editing numerous collective monographs. Thus, hedirectly participated as the organizer of work, author and coauthor of many sections, and executive editor in the pub-lication of History of National Mathematics [in four volumes (five books)], which was awarded the A. Koyre Medalat the XIIIth International Congress of History of Science, Essays on the Development of Mathematics in the USSR,History of Mathematical Education in the USSR, History of Mechanics in Russia, and a series of collective scien-tific papers on the history of mathematical natural sciences. At congresses devoted to theoretical and applied me-chanics and the theory of machines and mechanisms, he organized sections of the history of mechanics.O. Boholyubov took an active part in the work of numerous scientific councils, including the councils on the

Translated from Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 294–295, March, 2001.

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OLEKSII MYKOLAJOVYCH BOHOLYUBOV (ON HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY) 337

“Philosophical and social problems of science and technology” complex problem, theory of machines and systems ofmachines, and theoretical and applied mechanics.

A significant contribution to the theory of science was made by the series of scientific biographies of prominentscientists and engineers written by O. Boholyubov, among which one should mention the biographies of I. I. Arto-bolevskii, L. V. Assur, A. Béthencourt, R. Hooke, S. M. Kozhevnikov (written together with E. Ya. Antonyuk andS. A. Khorosheva), N. M. Krylov (written together with Yu. A. Mitropol’skii), G. Monge, L. S. Leibenzon, J.-V. Pon-celet, G. M. Nikoladze, etc.

O. Boholyubov is well known as a popularizer of science not only in Ukraine and Russia but also abroad. Formany years, he was the Deputy Head of the scientific-methodic council at the “Znannya” Ukrainian society on thepropaganda of scientific knowledge of mathematics, mechanics, and physics. O. Boholyubov is the author of morethan 500 scientific papers, among which the most important are History of Mechanics of Machines, Development ofProblems of Mechanics of Machines, Theory of Machines and Mechanisms in the Historical Development of ItsIdeas, Soviet School of Mechanics of Machines, and the biographical reference book Mathematicians and Mecha-nicians. He is also the author of popular-science works such as Man and Machine and Robots and Manipulators(written together with D. O. Nikitin).

O. Boholyubov gives much time and energy to pedagogic activity. In 1956–1981, he worked first as an assis-tant professor and then as a professor at the Department of Machines for Construction at the Kiev Institute for De-sign and Engineering, where he delivered courses on machine parts, applied mechanics, and the theory of machinesand mechanisms.

O. Boholyubov created a scientific school on the history of mathematical sciences, which is unique in theUkraine. Among his disciples, there are eight doctors and 40 candidates of sciences. For almost three decades, hehas headed a scientific seminar on the history of mathematics and mechanics at the Institute of Mathematics of theUkrainian Academy of Sciences. The pedagogic talent and good human qualities of O. Boholyubov brightly mani-fested themselves in his work as the head of a scientific school.

For his scientific and organizational merits, O. Boholyubov was awarded the N. M. Krylov Prize of the Ukrain-ian National Academy of Sciences in 1996. For his outstanding contribution to the development of the Spanish –Slavonic cultures and scientific relationships, His Majesty King of Spain Juan Carlos I awarded him the CommanderOrder “For Social Merits” in 1996.

Oleksii Mykolajovych Boholyubov celebrates his 90th birthday full of creative energy and new scientific ideasand plans. We wish him the successful accomplishment of his plans, good health, and new successes in his creativescientific activities.

Yu. A. Mitropol’skii, A. M. Samoilenko, V. M. Koshlyakov, V. M. Urbanskii,M. O. Pustovoitov, T. M. Vyvrot, S. A. Khorosheva