Gheorghe Țițeica

Who was Gheorghe Țițeica?

Gheorghe Țițeica publishing as George or Georges Tzitzeica was a Romanian mathematician with important contributions in geometry. He is recognized as the founder of the Romanian school of differential geometry.

He showed an early interest in science, as well as music and literature. Țițeica was an accomplished violinist, having studied music since childhood: music was to remain his hobby. While studying at the Carol I High School in Craiova, he contributed to the school's magazine, writing the columns on mathematics and studies of literary critique. After graduation he obtained a scholarship at the preparatory school in Bucharest, where he also was admitted as a student of the mathematics department of the Faculty of Sciences. In June 1895, he graduated with a Bachelor of Mathematics.

In the summer of 1896, after a stint as a substitute teacher at the Bucharest theological seminary, Țițeica passed his exams for promotion to a secondary school position, becoming teacher in Galaţi.

In 1897, on the advice of teachers and friends, Țițeica completed his studies at a preparatory school in Paris. Among his mates were Henri Lebesgue and Paul Montel. On June 30, 1899 he defended his master's degree thesis on the framework of oblique curvature, before a board of examiners led by Gaston Darboux.