JOVAN KARAMATA

(1902 - 1967)

An old and distinguished Czinczar Karamata family comes from the area of Mavrovo. At the end of 18th century, they moved to Zemun and, very soon, adopted to the new community and melted into the Serbs. Jovan Karamata was born on February 1, 1902, in Zagreb, in a middle class family, financially and spiritually rich environment, When he was still a baby, his family moved to Zemun, a town that he has always considered his native town. In 1909, he began his elementary education in Budapest, but continued and finished his education in Zemun, in 1913. At the same year he enrolled the Zemun Gymnasium, but in 1914, before the outbreak of the First World War, he left Zemun and moved to Susak, near Rijeka. Due to war circumstances his father sent him to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he enrolled the cantonal Gymnase scientifique, and graduated in 1920. There he acquired good secondary school knowledge of mathematics, but also a sense of being precise, pedantic and diligent, qualities that later on left very vivid trace on his work.

He returned to Belgrade in 1920, and enrolled the Technical Faculty, University of Belgrade. He passed his entrance examination at the Civil engineering department of the Technical Faculty in 1922, but he transferred to study mathematics at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, where he attended lectures on theory of mathematics, applied mathematics and experimental physics. He graduated in 1925, and immediately upon his graduation was appointed assistant-beginner with professor Mihajlo Petrović. He passed his doctoral examination in 1926, with the thesis On a type of limits resembling determinate integrals.

From December 1927 to September 1928, he was awarded scholarship from Rockefeller Foundation for specialization in Paris. In 1929, after completing his specialization in Paris, he was appointed assistant for mathematics at the faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.

In 1930 he was elected assistant professor for the subject mathematics, associate professor in 1937, and full professor in 1950. In 1951 he left Belgrade and went to Geneva, where he was elected full professor of the University of Geneva. He died in Geneva, on August. 14,1967.

Jovan Karamata published 122 scientific works, 10 monographs and textbooks and pedagogical papers. The most important results that he has achieved were in the field of classical mathematical analysis, exactly in Tauberian theory of function and theory of slowly varying function and regularly varying function.

Those obtained results, as well as results obtained in other fields of analysis and mathematics (Mercer theorem, inequalities, trigonometric integrals, etc.) were cited numerous times in works and monographs of that time, and are cited even today. He was highly esteemed scientist and lecturer. He participated in a number of congresses and visited universities in Europe and America. His scientific fame earned him a corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1933, the Czech Royal Society in 1936, the Serbian Royal Academy in 1939, and full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences, in 1948. He was a member of Swiss, French and German mathematical societies, member of French Society for Development of Science and was also a permanent collaborator in scientific journal L`Enseignement Mathematique. He took active part at the University activities, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and its Mathematical Institute. He greatly contributed to the renown of Belgrade mathematical school in the world.

His original mathematical results made him world famous, but of the same glory and importance is Karamata's school of mathematics. His students also acquired the name of distinguished mathematicians.

Author: Nikolić, Aleksandar