Elon Lima was the mathematician who loved books.
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Read Marcelo Viana's column in Folha de S. Paulo this Friday (12).
In the text, the director-general of IMPA recounts some of the trajectory of the mathematician, writer, and professor Elon Lages Lima (1929-2017).
Elon Lages Lima was the mathematician who loved books.
I first encountered Elon Lages Lima through his books during my time as an undergraduate student at the University of Porto. One of my favorites was "Metric Spaces": difficult for a second-year undergraduate, but full of mathematical wonders. A couple of years later I discovered "Fundamental Group and Covering Spaces," and my collection of favorite books grew. Elon wrote with care, apparent ease, without shying away from difficulties and, at the same time, never losing his elegance.
A few years later, I had the opportunity to meet the author of the books in person when I started my doctoral studies at IMPA (Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics). Besides mathematics, we were brought closer by our shared love of the Portuguese language and the pleasure Elon took in talking about his "homeland."
I remember the playful pride with which he showed me a photo of himself next to a traffic sign indicating Lima (his surname): the Lima River in northern Portugal, from whose banks some of his ancestors emigrated to the Brazilian Northeast.
He was one of the most influential mathematicians Brazil has ever produced. A researcher, leader, professor, author, educator, and mentor to talented young people. Last Sunday, Elon Lages Lima died in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 87 .
For decades, Elon lovingly cared for the IMPA library, helping to make it one of the best in the world for mathematics.
Knowing of his love for books, a mutual Spanish friend gave Elon many years ago a gift he greatly cherished: a facsimile of the ominous medieval regulations of the library of the University of Salamanca, the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula. "Any person who steals or damages any book or parchment from this library will be excommunicated." Elon pinned the card to the entrance of our library, and it's still there.
The sign in old Spanish now seems more like a humorous warning to visitors. Like Elon's books, it gets to the heart of the matter directly, and everyone understands.
To read the full article, visit the newspaper's website:
Folha allows each reader access to ten articles per month even without a subscription.
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