Mihailo Petrović

Mihailo Petrović Alas (; 6 May 1868 – 8 June 1943), was a Serbian mathematician, inventor, university professor and academic. He was a distinguished professor at Belgrade University, an academic, philosopher, writer, publicist, musician, businessman, traveler and volunteer in the Balkan Wars, the First and Second World Wars and licensed fisherman by trade (hence "Alas" ie "fisherman on the rivers" nickname).

He was a student of Henri Poincaré, Paul Painlevé, Charles Hermite and Émile Picard. Petrović contributed significantly to the study of differential equations and phenomenology, founded engineering mathematics in Serbia, and invented one of the first prototypes of a hydraulic analog computer.

Biography Petrović was born on 6 May 1868, in Belgrade, as the first child of Nikodim, a professor of theology, and Milica (née Lazarević). Petrović' father died when he was young, and his grandfather helped raise him.

He finished the First Belgrade Gymnasium in 1885, and afterwards enrolled at the natural science-mathematical section of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. At the time when he finished his studies in Serbia in 1889, several Serbian mathematicians who had acquired their doctorate degrees abroad, like Dr. Dimitrije Nešić (at Vienna and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Dr. Dimitrije Danić (at Jena, 1885) and Bogdan Gavrilović (at Budapest, 1887) were beginning to make a name for themselves. Alas published expert papers and reports on the fish-fauna found in the Macedonian lakes, such as Skadar Lake and Ohrid Lake.

He received numerous awards and acknowledgments and was a member of several foreign science academies (Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw, Kraków) and scientific societies. In 1927, when Jovan Cvijić died, members of the Serbian academy proposed Mihailo Petrović as the new president of academy, but the authorities did not accept this proposal. Probable reason for this was that Mihailo Petrović Alas was first a private tutor and mentor and later a close friend of the prince Đorđe P. Karađorđević, the king's brother, who was arrested in 1925, and held in house arrest. When the Second World War broke out in Yugoslavia, he was again called into the army and the Germans captured him. After a while, he was released because of illness. On 8 June 1943, professor Petrović died in his home in Kosančićev Venac Street in Belgrade.

Alas and fellow scientist Milutin Milanković were close friends for several decades.

Awards and memberships Source:

Member of Serbian academy of sciences and arts Member of Yugoslav academy Member of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Member of academy, Bucharest Member of academy, Warsaw Member of academy, Kraków Member of various societies, Prague Member of various societies in Paris Member of various societies in Berlin Member of various societies in France Member of society of Italian mathematicians, Palermo Member of society of German mathematicians, Leipzig Member of Shevchenko Scientific Society, Lviv Member of scientific expedition for explorationof the South Pole Member of Rotary Club, Belgrade Order of Miloš the Great Order of St. Sava, 1st degree Order of St. Sava, 2nd degree Order of St. Sava, 3rd degree Order of the Romanian crown, 3rd degree Honorary brevet from London's society of mathematicians Honorary president of Yugoslav Alliance of students of mathematics Honorary doctor of science, University of Belgrade

Selected works

O asimptonim vrednostima integrala i deferencijalnih jednačina, Beograd, 1895. Elementi matematicke fenomenologije, Beograd 1911. Les spectres numeriques, Paris 1919. Mecanismes communs aux phenomenes disparates, Paris 1921, Notice sur les travaux scientifiques de M. Michel Petrovich, Paris, 1922 Durees physiques independantes des dimensions spatiales, Zurich-Paris, 1924. Lecons sur les spectres mathematiques, Paris, 1928. Integrales premieres a restrictions, Paris, 1929. Integrales qualitative des equations differentielles, Paris, 1931. Fenomenološko preslikavanje, Beograd, 1933. Jedan diferencijalni algoritam i njegove primene, Beograd, 1936. Članci, Beograd, 1949. Metafore i alegorije, Beograd 1967. Računanje sa brojnim razmacima, Beograd, 1932. Eliptičke funkcije, Beograd, 1937. Integracije diferencijalnih jednačina pomoću redova, Beograd 1938. Kroz polarnu oblast, Beograd 1932. U carstvu gusara, Beograd, 1933. Sa okeanskim ribarima, Beograd, 1935. Po zabačenim ostrvima, Beograd, 1936. Roman jegulje, Beograd, 1940. Đerdapski ribolov u prošlosti i sadašnjosti, Beograd, 1941. Daleka kopna i mora, Beograd, 1948. Po gusarima i drugim ostrvima, Beograd 1952. S okenaskim ribarima, Subotica, 1953. Po gusarskim ostrvima, Beograd, 1960. Sa Arktika do Antarktika, Beograd, 1960.

Edition of the complete works:

Book 1: Diferencijalne jednacine I Book 2: Diferencijalne jednacine II Book 3: Matematička analiza Book 4: Algebra Book 5: Matematički spektri Book 6: Matematička fenomenologija Book 7: Elementi matematičke fenomenologije Book 8: Intervalna matematika – diferencijalni algoritam Book 9: Eliptičke funkcije – integracija pomoću redova Book 10: Članci – studije Book 11: Putopisi I Book 12: Putopisi II Book 13: Metafore i alegorije – članci Book 14: Ribarstvo Book 15: Mihailo Petrović (pisma, bibliografija i letopis)