Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch, 1891-1970

Abstract

Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch was born at Berdjansk, on the Sea of Azov, on 24 January 1891, the fourth child of the family of four sons and two daughters of Samuel and Eva Besicovitch. By descent the family belonged to the Karaim people, whose ancestors were the Khazars. The once powerful kingdom of the Khazars (from the 7th to the 11th centuries) stretched between the Volga and the Dnieper. The conversion of sects of the Khazars by the Karaite Jews led to their taking the name Karaims. Their language was originally Turkish of the Qipchaq group but is now mostly Russian. Samuel Besicovitch was a jeweller by trade but, after losses by theft, he gave up his shop and took employment as a cashier. He married Eva when she was 15, and they had to live frugally to bring up their large family. All the children were talented. Moreover, they were united by strong bonds of affection. They all studied at the University at St Petersburg, the older ones in turn earning money in their spare time by giving private lessons and helping to support the younger. All the children gained high qualifications, one brother of A.S. being the author of a number of mathematical books, and another a doctor of medicine. The two daughters both kept up independent careers after marriage. In later life the sons and daughters bore witness to the intelligence of their mother and agreed that, if she had not been cut off from higher education by marrying so young and having children, she would have shown conspicuous ability, notably in mathematics. A.S. acknowledged that he owed to his father (twenty-five years older than his mother) a stern encouragement to persevere to the highest standards. From an early age the boy had shown extraordinary aptitude for solving mathematical problems. One day he brought a textbook to his father saying ‘I have been able to solve every problem except one in this book’. His father withheld praise for this achievement until A.S. had successfully solved the remaining problem.