Francesco Severi


Francesco Severi was an Italian mathematician. He was the chair of the committee on Fields Medal in 1936, at the first delivery.
Severi was born in Arezzo, Italy. He is famous for his contributions to algebraic geometry and the theory of functions of several complex variables. He became the effective leader of the Italian school of algebraic geometry. Together with Federigo Enriques, he won the Bordin prize from the French Academy of Sciences.
He contributed in a major way to birational geometry, the theory of algebraic surfaces, in particular of the curves lying on them, the theory of moduli spaces and the theory of functions of several complex variables. He wrote prolifically, and some of his work has subsequently been shown to be not rigorous according to the then new standards set in particular by Oscar Zariski and André Weil. Although many of his arguments have since been made rigorous, a significant fraction were not only lacking in rigor but also wrong. At the personal level, according to he was easily offended, and he was involved in a number of controversies. Most notably, he was a staunch supporter of the Italian fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and was included on a committee of academics that was to conduct an anti-semitic purge of all scholarly societies and academic institutions.

Biography

His childhood was marked by the death of his father, which occurred when he was 9 years old. This had serious economic repercussions on their family. Although he had to earn a living while conducting private lessons, Francesco Severi managed to continue his studies and enroll in the engineering course at the University of Turin. Due to the influence of courses by Corrado Segre, Severi quickly found a passion for pure mathematics.
In 1900, he completed his training with a thesis in the geometry of numbers, which would later become his favorite subject.
After his thesis, he became assistant to Enrico D'Ovidio at the University of Turin and from 1902 to 1905, he was a lecturer in projective and descriptive geometry. But soon, he obtained his transfer to the University of Bologna as assistant to Federigo Enriques. Then at the University of Pisa as assistant to Eugenio Bertini.
In 1904, in consideration of the results he obtained in the geometry of numbers, he obtained the chair of projective and descriptive geometry at the University of Parma. However, he spent a year at the University of Padua. where, he teaches different subjects, and takes the direction of the engineering unit.
In 1906, he obtained a theorem of existence of algebraic curves drawn on certain types of surfaces, thus beginning the search for the classification of rational surfaces.
Mobilized during World War I, Severi enlisted in the artillery.
In 1921, he obtained the chair of algebraic geometry at La Sapienza University in Rome.
In 1923, he was elected rector of this university. But in 1925, following the assassination of the socialist politician Matteotti, he gave up his duties as rector. Nevertheless, Severi would remain without reaction against fascism and would accept the application of the racial laws.
In 1938, Severi was one of the founders of the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica. Oscar Zariski is one of his most famous students.
In 1959, he converted to Catholicism and published his autobiography Dalla scienza alla fede, he repents of his lack of political discernment
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to various things, and mathematicians often make mistakes in politics, because it is, conversely, the art of giving different names to identical things.
During his career, Severi received numerous awards, including the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Sciences and, together with Federigo Enriques, the Bordin Prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences.
He was a member of numerous Italian and foreign academies, including the Accademia dei Lincei in 1910 and the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino in 1918.

Selected publications

His scientific production includes more than 400 publications and numerous treatises. All the mathematical works of Francesco Severi, except all books, are collected in the six volumes of his "Opere Matematiche".
  • , available at Gallica. The paper containing the first proof of Morera's theorem for holomorphic functions of several variables.
  • . The announce of the solution of the Dirichlet problem for pluriharmonic functions for domains with real analytic boundaries.
  • . In this paper Severi describes the "passage from real to complex" method he developed in order to deal with several problems in the theory of functions of several complex variables.
  • . In this work Severi gives his proof of the Hartogs' extension theorem.
  • . Notes from a course held by Francesco Severi at the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica, containing appendices of Enzo Martinelli, Giovanni Battista Rizza and Mario Benedicty.
  • . His "Mathematical works, Memoirs and Notes": the complete collection, with the exception of books, of Francesco Severi's scientific contributions. The reprinted works, written in Italian, French, German, retain their original language in an improved typographical form amended from typographical errors and author's oversights: also, a comment of Severi was added to several papers. Volume I collects works published from 1900 to 1908.
  • . His "Mathematical works, Memoirs and Notes": the complete collection, with the exception of books, of Francesco Severi's scientific contributions. The reprinted works, written in Italian, French, German, retain their original language in an improved typographical form amended from typographical errors and author's oversights: also, a comment of Severi was added to several papers. Volume II collects works published from 1909 to 1917.
  • . His "Mathematical works, Memoirs and Notes": the complete collection, with the exception of books, of Francesco Severi's scientific contributions. The reprinted works, written in Italian, French, German, retain their original language in an improved typographical form amended from typographical errors and author's oversights: also, a comment of Severi was added to several papers. Volume III collects works published from 1918 to 1932.
  • . His "Mathematical works, Memoirs and Notes": the complete collection, with the exception of books, of Francesco Severi's scientific contributions. The reprinted works, written in Italian, French, German, retain their original language in an improved typographical form amended from typographical errors and author's oversights: also, a comment of Severi was added to several papers. Volume IV collects works published from 1933 to 1941.
  • . His "Mathematical works, Memoirs and Notes": the complete collection, with the exception of books, of Francesco Severi's scientific contributions. The reprinted works, written in Italian, French, German, retain their original language in an improved typographical form amended from typographical errors and author's oversights: also, a comment of Severi was added to several papers. Volume V collects works published from 1942 to 1948.
  • . His "Mathematical works, Memoirs and Notes": the complete collection, with the exception of books, of Francesco Severi's scientific contributions. The reprinted works, written in Italian, French, German, retain their original language in an improved typographical form amended from typographical errors and author's oversights: also, a comment of Severi was added to several papers. Volume VI collects works published from 1949 to 1961.

    Articles on ''Scientia''

  • ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 8, 1910, pp. 1–29
  • ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 37, 1925, pp. 77–86
  • ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 37, 1925, pp. 1–10
  • ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 81, 1947, pp. 49–59
  • ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 88, 1953, pp. 41–44
  • ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 90, 1955, pp. 277–282
  • , Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 92, 1957, pp. 20–26

    Reviews

  • Albert Einstein, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 91, 1956, pp. 42–43
  • Eric Temple Bell, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 90, 1955, pp. 371–372
  • Nikolaus Von Cues, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 89, 1954, pp. 34–34
  • Ludovico Geymonat, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 89, 1954, pp. 176–176
  • Norbert Wiener, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 88, 1953, pp. 312–313
  • Eric Temple Bell, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 86, 1951, pp. 183–184
  • Richard Courant e Herbert Robbins, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 86, 1951, pp. 278–279
  • Gottlob Frege, ', Scientia: rivista internazionale di sintesi scientifica, 84, 1949, pp. 144–144

    Biographical and general references

  • . The "Yearbook" of the renowned Italian scientific institution, including an historical sketch of its history, the list of all past and present members as well as a wealth of information about its academic and scientific activities.
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • , available at Gallica. A detailed description of the Bordin prize winning work of Francesco Severi and Federigo Enriques.
  • .
  • .
  • . A report of the fourth International Congress of Mathematicians with a short exposition of the motivation for the awarding of the Guccia medal to Severi.
  • . The relation by Max Noether, Henri Poincaré and Corrado Segre on the motivation for the awarding of the Guccia medal to Severi, read during the fourth International Congress of Mathematicians.
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • . A description of the scientific work done under the direction of Severi at the "Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica during the early 1940s, by one of his former doctoral students.