Uryson, Pavel Samuilovich

(Paul S. Urysohn). Born Jan. 22 (Feb. 3), 1898, in Odessa; died Aug. 17, 1924, at Batz, Brittany, France. Soviet mathematician.

Uryson graduated from Moscow University in 1919 and became a staff member of the Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics at Moscow University and a professor at the Second Moscow University (now the V. I. Lenin Moscow State Pedagogical Institute). He died in a swimming accident. A leading specialist in topology, Uryson laid the foundations of dimension theory by proving important theorems on the metrizability of topological spaces. He also worked in such areas as geometry and nonlinear differential equations. In 1921 and 1922, at Moscow University, Uryson taught the first topology course to be offered in Russia.