Carlos Benjamin de Lyra

Carlos Benjamin de Lyra (Pernambuco, 23 November 1927 – São Paulo, 21 July 1974) was a prominent Brazilian mathematician, a pioneer in algebraic topology in Brazil and professor at the University of São Paulo.

Born in Recife, Pernambuco, he came from a family of sugarcane plantation owners and his dad was the owner of the Diário de Pernambuco, a newspaper that was known nationwide.

Family and early career In São Paulo, 1947, Lyra began studying Mathematics under the former Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras of the University of São Paulo (FFCL). During this time, he would meet French mathematicians André Weil (1906–1998) and Jean Dieudonné (1906–1992), and have lectures with Professor Cândido Lima da Silva Dias (1913–1998) on the topic of algebraic topology, the area of study he would pursue during the rest of his career.

Major works

Periodical publications 1976: SHM-maps of CW-groups 1975: Caracterização dos SHM-Morfismos para grupos topológicos 1965: On a conjecture in homotopy theory 1959: On circle bundles over complex projective space 1958: On the homotopy type of a factor space 1957: On spaces of the some homotopy type as polyhedra 1952: Minimal complexes and maps 1949: A note on Zorn's theorem

Books 1972: Introdução à topologia algébrica. 2.ed. – Notas Mimeografadas. 1963: Sobre os métodos de Whitehead na teoria da homotopia – Notas Mimeografadas. 1957–58: Espaços de recobrimento – Cap. 2–3

Presentations and lectures 1969: Grupo fundamental e revestimentos – 7° Colóquio Brasileiro de Matemática. 1965: Sobre uma conjetura na teoria da homotopia – 5° Colóquio Brasileiro de Matemática. 1957: Introdução à topologia algébrica – 1° Colóquio Brasileiro de Matemática.

Theses 1968: H-equivalencia de grupos topológicos – Livre-Docência. 1958: Sobre os espaços de mesmo tipo de homotopia que o dos poliedros – Doutorado. Scientific societies

Academia Brasileira de Ciências American Mathematical Society Sociedade Brasileira de Matemática Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência Sociedade de Matemática de São Paulo