(full name, V. A. Steklov Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; MIAN), the central Soviet research institute dealing with problems in mathematics. It is located in Moscow and has a division in Leningrad. It has existed as an independent institution since 1934, when it was separated from the Academy of Sciences’ Physicomathematical Institute founded by V. A. Steklov in 1921. At its founding, the Institute of Mathematics was headed by I. I. Vinogradov, who to this day (1974) remains its director.
A number of institutions of the Academy of Sciences grew out of various divisions of the institute. These include the Institute of Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now, the Institute of Problems in Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR), the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Computer Center of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Mathematics of the Siberian Division of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and the Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Urals Scientific Center of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
The V. A. Steklov Institute of Mathematics undertakes studies of the most important problems in such branches of mathematics as number theory, algebra, mathematical logic, geometry, topology, the theory of functions, the theory of differential equations, the mathematical theory of optimal control, probability theory, and mathematical statistics. It also works on important problems in mechanics and theoretical physics. The research workers of the institute have carried out a number of studies that are of fundamental importance, and many of the researchers have been awarded the Lenin and State prizes of the USSR. The institute publishes Trudy (from 1931) and offers a graduate program. The institute was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1967.
IU. V. PROKHOROV