Stanisława Nikodym facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Stanisława Nikodym
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Stanisława Liliental as a student at Warsaw University, 1916
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Stanisława Dorota Liliental
July 2, 1897 |
| Died | March 25, 1988 (aged 90) Warsaw
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| Nationality | Polish |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Warsaw University |
| Spouse(s) | Otto M. Nikodym |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | continuum theory |
| Institutions | Warsaw Polytechnic, Kenyon College |
| Thesis | O rozcinaniu płaszczyzny przez zbiory spójne i kontinua (1925) |
| Doctoral advisor | Stefan Mazurkiewicz |
Stanisława Nikodym (born Liliental on July 2, 1897 – died March 25, 1988) was a brilliant Polish mathematician and a talented artist. She is famous for her work in continuum theory. This is a part of mathematics that studies how connected shapes and spaces behave. She was especially known for her findings on something called "Jordanian continuums."
Contents
About Stanisława Nikodym
Her Early Life and Education
Stanisława Dorota Liliental was born in Warsaw, Poland. Her mother, Regina Lilientalowa, was an expert in studying different cultures (an ethnographer). Stanisława also had a younger brother named Antoni.
She went to primary school and then a private school for girls in Warsaw for seven years. In 1916, she started studying mathematics at the Warsaw University. There, she learned from famous mathematicians like Stefan Mazurkiewicz, Zygmunt Janiszewski, and Wacław Sierpiński.
Marriage and Further Studies
In 1924, Stanisława married Otto M. Nikodym, who was also a mathematician. They moved to Krakow. In 1925, she earned her doctoral degree from the Jagiellonian University. Her supervisor was Stefan Mazurkiewicz. Stanisława was the very first woman in Poland to get a PhD in mathematics!
After that, she and Otto received money from the government to study in Paris. They spent two years (from 1926) at the Sorbonne, a famous university. In 1930, they came back to Warsaw. Stanisława started working at the Warsaw Polytechnic with another mathematician, Franciszek Leja.
Life During World War II
Sadly, Stanisława's brother, Antoni, who was a chemist and a soldier, died during the Katyn Massacre in 1940.
During World War II, when Poland was occupied by Germany, teaching higher education was not allowed. But Stanisława and her husband, Otto, bravely taught math secretly. They held these "clandestine" (secret) classes even though it was very dangerous.
In 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, they lost almost everything they owned. This included many of their important math papers that had not yet been published.
Moving to the United States
After the war, in 1946, Stanisława and Otto traveled to Belgium for a meeting of mathematicians. Otto then gave lectures in different cities across Europe. Eventually, they moved to the United States and settled in a town called Gambier, Ohio.
After her husband Otto passed away in 1974, Stanisława gave their papers and her own paintings to a special collection at the University of Texas, Austin. Stanisława Nikodym passed away in Warsaw in 1988.
Her Amazing Career
Mathematics Work
Even before she finished university, Stanisława taught math to soldiers in the Polish army during 1918–1919.
Her PhD paper was called On disconnecting the plane by connected sets and continua. This sounds complicated, but it was a big step in understanding how shapes and spaces connect.
Before World War II started, she published three books and many articles about her math discoveries.
One of her important findings was about "Jordanian continuums." She figured out what conditions were needed for a smaller part of a Jordanian continuum to also be a Jordanian continuum. She also showed that if two closed shapes, when combined or when they overlap, form Jordanian continuums, then the original shapes themselves are also Jordanian continuums.
In the 1940s, she taught mathematics at Kenyon College in Ohio. Her husband also taught there.
Stanisława's Art
Besides being a brilliant mathematician, Stanisława was also a talented artist. When she was a student, she enjoyed painting outdoors in a town called Sandomierz.
She painted the city of Sandomierz many times using watercolors over several years, starting in 1922. These paintings were shown in an exhibition in 1933. After the exhibition, she gave her artworks to the District Museum in Sandomierz, where you can still see them today.
