The Case of Academician Nikolai Nikolaevich Luzin: (History of Mathematics)

The Soviet school, one of the glories of twentieth-century mathematics, faced a serious crisis in the summer of 1936. It was suffering from internal strains due to generational conflicts between the young talents and the old establishment. At the same time, Soviet leaders (including Stalin himself) were bent on ``Sovietizing'' all of science in the USSR by requiring scholars to publish their works in Russian in the Soviet Union, ending the nearly universal practice of publishing in the West. A campaign to ``Sovietize'' mathematics in the USSR was launched with an attack on Nikolai Nikolaevich Luzin, the leader of the Soviet school of mathematics, in Pravda. Luzin was fortunate in that only a few of the most ardent ideologues wanted to destroy him utterly. As a result, Luzin, though humiliated and frightened, was allowed to make a statement of public repentance and then let off with a relatively mild reprimand. A major factor in his narrow escape was the very abstractness of his research area (descriptive set theory), which was difficult to incorporate into a propaganda campaign aimed at the broader public. The present book contains the transcripts of five meetings of the Academy of Sciences commission charged with investigating the accusations against Luzin, meetings held in July of 1936. Ancillary material from the Soviet press of the time is included to place these meetings in context.

Table of Contents:
Introduction The case of academician Luzin in the collective memory of the scientific community Minutes of the meetings of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the case of academician Luzin Minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin: 7 July Minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission on the matter of academician Luzin 9 July Minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission on the matter of academician Luzin 11 July Minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 13 July Minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 15 July Commentaries on the minutes of the meetings of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the case of academician Luzin Commentaries on the minutes of the meetings of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the case of academician Luzin Commentary on the minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 7 July 1936 Commentary on the minutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 9 July 1936 Commentary on the minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 11 July 1936 Commentary on the minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 13 July 1936 Commentary on the minutes of the meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences Commission in the matter of academician Luzin 15 July 1936 Literature Appendices Appendices introduction A pleasant disillusionment Reply to academician N. Luzin Enemies wearing a Soviet mask Letter from L. Z. Mekhlis, editor of $\textit{Pravda}$, to the Central Committee, 3 July 1936 Resolution concerning the articles ``Response to academician Luzin'' and ``Enemies wearing a Soviet mask'' in $\textit{Pravda}$ Draft of the proposal of the special session of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 4 July 1936 Letter from P. L. Kapitsa to Molotov, 6 July 1936 Excerpt from the minutes of the Presidum meeting of 7 July 1936 Letters from V. I. Vernadski iand N. V. Nasonov to the Academy of Sciences Division of Mathematical and Natural Sciences and to academicians A. E. Fersman and N. P. Gorbunov in support of academician Luzin Letter from academician N. N. Luzin to the Central Committee of the Communist Party 7 July 1936 Traditions of servility Resolution of the General Assembly of Scientists of the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics and Institute of Mathematics, Mechanics, and Astronomy at Moscow University Letter from Luzin to an undetermined addressee, 11 July 1936 Enemies wearing a Soviet mask The Leningrad scholars respond Letter from L. Z. Mekhlis, Editor of Pravda, to Stalin and Molotov, 14 July 1936 The enemy exposed Luzin's statement to the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, 14 July 1936 Academician Gubkin on so-called academician Luzin The Belarus scholars on the exposed enemy Luzin The scholarly community condemns enemies wearing a Soviet mask Note accompanying the draft of the findings of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences regarding academician N. N. Luzin, 25 July 1936 Conclusion of the Commission On academician N. N. Luzin Findings of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 5 August 1936 To rid academia of Luzinism Glossary of Soviet terms and people Subject index Name index

About the Author :
Sergei S. Demidov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

Review :
It is wonderful to have this book available in English translation. The Case of Academician Luzin is a highly significant event in the history of Soviet mathematics; with its presentation of original sources, together with ample commentary, this book will now convey the full import of this event to a new readership." - Christopher Hollings, Oxford University, author of Mathematics across the Iron Curtain "The translation into English of The Case of Academician Nikolai Nikolaevich Luzin is an important contribution toward the understanding of the fate of a great mathematician in Stalin's time. We learn here the details of how he was judged in a political trial. I would like to immodestly suggest that reading this source together with Jean-Michel Kantor's and my recent book Naming Infinity will clarify an episode in both the history of mathematics and of the Soviet Union that has long mystified observers." - Loren Graham, Professor Emeritus of the History of Science, MIT and Harvard "Included within its 363 pages is an outline of the innovatory nature of Russian mathematics in the first 30 years of the 20th century. The core of the book consists of the minutes of the meetings of the five-day hearing during which Luzin was virtually fighting for his life. Indeed, the wealth of documentary evidence provided by the authors creates the impression that they have left no stone unturned in their quest to reveal the awful machinations that beset Nikolai Luzin in 1936. Read all about it in this gripping account of a wrongly persecuted mathematician." - P. N. Ruane, MAA Reviews