Stefan Banach

Stefan Banach (March 30, 1892 in Kraków, part of Poland under the occupation of Austria-Hungary ? August 31, 1945 in L'viv, Soviet Union), was a Polish mathematician, one of the moving spirits of the Lwów School of Mathematics in pre-war Poland. He was largely self-taught in mathematics; his genius was accidentally discovered by Hugo Steinhaus.

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March 30 - 1892 - Kraków - Austria-Hungary - August 31 - 1945 - L'viv - Soviet Union - Polish - Mathematician - Lwów School of Mathematics - Hugo Steinhaus

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When World War II began, Banach was President of the Polish Mathematical Society and a full professor of University of Lwów. Being a corresponding member of Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and otherwise on good terms with Soviet mathematicians, he was allowed to keep his chair despite the Soviet occupation, from 1939, of the city. Banach survived the subsequent brutal German occupation from 1941, earning a living, as bizarre as it sounds, by feeding lice on his blood in typhoid fever research conducted under Prof. Rudolf Weigl. His health declined during the occupation, and he developed lung cancer. After the war Lwów was incorporated into the Soviet Union, and Banach died there before he could be repatriated to Poland. He is buried at the Lychakivskiy Cemetery.

Related Topics:
World War II - Polish Mathematical Society - University of Lwów - Ukrainian SSR - Soviet - Occupation - 1939 - 1941 - Lice - Typhoid fever - Rudolf Weigl - Lung cancer - Lwów - Lychakivskiy Cemetery

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