Flowers laid to Nikolai Lobachevsky bust near the central campus

The founder of non-Euclidean geometry and longtime rector was born on 1 December 1792.

As is traditional, the Rector, employees, and students went to the bust on this day to lay flowers and commemorate the great predecessor.

Lobachevsky earned posthumous fame as the creator of new geometry. His views were systematically reflected in his treatise On the Basics of Geometry.

In 1827 – 1846, Lobachevsky was elected as rector multiple times. He was the first Kazan University alumnus to become rector, and his tenure was marked by rapid development and expansion of the alma mater. Lobachevsky was a capable administrator and also acted as the chief librarian. In particular, in 1842 Lobachevsky’s decisive leadership and foresightful planning helped protect the campus from one of the most devastating conflagrations in the city’s history.

Lobachevsky is commemorated in Kazan in various ways:

a street in city center (KFU’s Institute of Physics and Institute of Chemistry are located here);

KFU’s Institute of Mathematics is named after him;

KFU’s Lobachevsky Library;

KFU’s Lobachevsky Lyceum (a middle to high school for gifted children);

KFU’s Lobachevsky Museum.

Among notable commemorations in other locations, Lobachevsky University (Nizhny Novgorod State University) officially bears his name.