In Memory of Andrei Zelevinsky  ז״ל.

 

 

  It was very sad to learn that Andrei passed away. There is something very unsettling  when such a beautiful person dies so untimely. Andrei was at  the height of his powers as a mathematician, and, while  his contribution is well recognized, it is highly ``unfair" that so many of his plans were left unfulfilled by him.

  It is nice to read about an impact Andrei left on so many mathematicians. I did not work with him or in his area, but I was his undergraduate student in a somewhat unusual circumstances.  Andrei (or, as it is more appropriate for me, Andrei Vladlenovich) was my teacher at the Jewish University (Еврейский Народный Университет) at Moscow in 80's (1980-83). The (still) unbelievable story of this ``Institution" is well-known by now, and was told by some participants including  Andrei  in a very touching piece (I also wrote short recollections about that time). It is  maybe less known that after the tragic end of  the Jewish University, Professors of this informal gathering have not abandoned remaining students, but run seminars for at least one more year. In our case, the seminar was run by Fuchs, Feigin and Andrei at Mekh-Mat (it is not clear how the authorities could not trace this unsupervised activity under their own nose!). I think this extension required an unbelievable courage from these three people after what happened to Bella Subbotovskaya at  hands of KGB. It certainly can not be attributed to the ``absent-mindedness" Andrei was trying to invoke  as a partial justification for his participation. This seminar certainly played a crucial role in my life.

  As a tribute to Andrei, I decided to post his lectures in Analysis from that time. These were written by him (and photocopied illegally by Boris Kanevsky who eventually brought copies to Israel). Andrei's lectures  were praised by many, and I hope this will give to an interested person some feeling why.

Semester 1 , Semester 2 , Semester 3 .