Lefschetz, Solomon (1884–1972)

Russian-born US mathematician. Best known for linking topology to algebraic geometers, he also contributed to fixed-point theory and differential equations. Editor of Annals of Mathematics (1928–58) and editor and founder of the Journal of Differential Equations, he was an author of maths texts and founded a maths centre (1957) that was later moved to Brown University and named the Lefschetz Center for Dynamical Systems. Lefschetz was born in Moscow, Russia. He emigrated to the USA in 1905, where he initially worked as an engineer. He gained his PhD in 1911 and taught at Princeton University (1924–53), eventually chairing its mathematics department (1945–53).