Prof. Andrzej Hulanicki (1933-2008)

Andrzej Hulanicki was one of the most distinguished Polish mathematicians of the second half of the XXth century. He was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as an author of over eighty original research papers, which have brought him recognition both in Poland and abroad. In the 1930s the Polish mathematical school was one of the top in the world. World War II, the post war isolation, the death or emigration of many mathematicians has changed this status. As soon as it became possible, in the late fifties,Wrocław mathematicians and other scientists started to travel both to the West and the Soviet Union, in order to undo the isolation of Polish science.

The British Council offered stipends that allowed many to do this. With the aid of such a stipend Andrzej Hulanicki spent the years 1959–60 in Manchester, where there was a very good school of infinite groups. This was while Andrzej was pursuing his Ph.D. in the area straddling algebra, set theory, topology and measure theory. The experience from Manchester was most valuable. Andrzej was one of Wrocław’s best young mathematicians and found himself in a place where nobody was interested at all in Poland’s mathematics. Andrzej quickly realized what it means to be from a mathematical backyard. Since then he devoted his whole life to pull Wrocław out of that backyard. To do that he constantly pursued topics that were in the center of mathematical interest, and kept bringing to Wrocław mathematicians who talked about these subjects.

(the beginning of the article by E. Damek, Master, Colloq. Math. 118, 2010;
translated from the Polish partially by Maciej Paluszyński and Guido Weiss )

We kindly encourage you to submit memorial texts dedicated to Professor Andrzej Hulanicki to the following address: fmw(at)math.uni.wroc.pl