Raghavan Narasimhan

"Raghavan Narasimhan was an Indian mathematician who made significant contributions to the fields of real and complex manifolds, harmonic analysis, and analytic number theory. He was born on August 31, 1937 in Madras, India, where he attended Loyola College and was taught by the French Jesuit priest Racine. He received his doctorate in 1963 from K. Chandrasekharan at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay. In 1966, he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He joined the University of Chicago as a professor of mathematics in 1969 and remained there until his retirement in 2006. He was also a visiting professor at various institutions around the world, such as the University of Geneva, the University of Paris, and the Institute for Advanced Study. Narasimhan was probably best known for his work on the Levi problem for complex manifolds, which he solved in his doctoral thesis and presented at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1962. He also wrote several influential books on several complex variables, such as Introduction to the Theory of Analytic Spaces (1965), Analysis on Real and Complex Manifolds (1968), Several Complex Variables (1970), and Compact Riemann Surfaces (1992). He also edited Riemann's Collected Works (1990). In addition, he collaborated with Charles Fefferman on a series of papers on the borderline of analysis and real algebraic geometry in the 1990s. Narasimhan was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Geneva in 1986 for his profound influence in the development of mathematics in French Switzerland and for the training he provided to many doctoral students. He was also a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and a member of the Indian Academy of Sciences. Narasimhan was known for his analytical prowess, breadth of vision, and elegance in mathematics. He was also a beloved and respected teacher who inspired many generations of students with his memorable lectures and generous ideas. He had a deep interest in many areas of mathematics as well as other fields such as history, philosophy, literature, and music. He died on October 3, 2015 at Bernard Mitchell Hospital in Chicago after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife Lynn Narasimhan, who is also a mathematician, and 10 nieces and nephews."