Differential Equations of My Young Years

Vladimir Maz'ya is one of the most distinguished mathematical analysts of our time known for his vast and multi-faceted scientific work and for his impact on contemporary mathematics. He was born in Leningrad in 1937 and graduated from Leningrad University in 1960. Since 1990 he has been living in Sweden. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the recipient of several international prizes.

• Foreword.- The beginning.- The time of peace is over.- My mother’s story.- My father’s story.- In Sverdlovsk.- Back to Leningrad.- Crime without punishment.- Even the sun has spots.- It is so difficult to become an “A” student.- The importance of being an “A” student.- Slingshots.- Illnesses.- “Physcult” and sports.- A sharp kid.- Foreign languages.- My interests.- Poetry.- Fimka.- The first place in the District!.- The indecent topic.- My circle of reading.- I chose mathematics.- A circle at the Palace of Pioneers.- Two lectures for the school teachers.- The English teacher.- Arkady Alexeev.- Alexeev’s story.- Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.-You cannot live without the women. No!.- The first Mathmech year.- Student contests.- We lead our life in major key.- A mysterious ID.- Musical moments.- Valery Maisky.- The authorities did not like me.- How did I not become a dissident.- Misha Danilov.- Fractional derivatives.- Student Scientific Society (SSS) and Tseitin.- “Quasi-publication” and S. M. Lozinsky.- The Mathmech choir.- My doubts and S. G. Mikhlin’s advice.- A few words about Mikhlin The virgin soil.- Bakelman’s special course.- Job placement.- Siegfried.- Steel sheets and YMS.- Possibility and reality.- Defense at the Moscow State University.- Defense at the Leningrad University.- About V.I. Smirnov.- An order: scatter the composed type.- About the “Big Seminar”.- After the defense of the Doctor’s degree dissertation.- Non-travels to foreign countries.- Counterexamples to the Hilbert problem.- Talent.- Farewell, my young years!.- Under close surveillance?.

"This is an autobiography, a collection of memories of Vladimir Maz'ya ... . The book is written in a highly readable and inviting style and spiced with warmth and an occasional touch of humor. ... This autobiography can be recommended to readers with a mathematical background, because after all this is a book about a scientist and mathematician, but also to those interested in the story of post-war Soviet society." (Aleksandar M. Nikolic, Mathematical Reviews, September, 2015) "Maz'ya's recollections map a personal landscape of hopes realized and sorrows endured and makes for a vivid picture of these times and this largely closed country. This memoir should be of interest to those looking for insight into daily life in Soviet Russia, especially life for Jewish families, as much if not more so than to learn about the author's career as a mathematician." (Tom Schulte, MAA Reviews, November, 2014)