Lobachevsky, Nikolay

Lobachevsky, Nikolay (Ivanovich)

(born , Dec. 1, 1792, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia—died Feb. 24, 1856, Kazan) Russian mathematician. His entire life centred around the University of Kazan, where he studied and later (from 1816) taught. In 1829 he published his groundbreaking theory, a geometry that rejected Euclid's parallel postulate. It was the final solution to a problem that had baffled mathematicians for 2,000 years. Lobachevsky also did distinguished work in the theory of infinite series, especially trigonometric series, as well as in integral calculus, algebra, and probability. He was largely ignored during his lifetime; acceptance of his new geometry came a decade after his death, though much of the credit went to others. With Bolyai János of Hungary (1802–60), Lobachevsky is considered the founder of non-Euclidean geometry.