Three generations of the Kuptsov-Arkhangelsky family connected their lives with teaching. Sergey Nikolaevich Kuptsov, senior lecturer at the Department of Differential Equations and Mathematical Economics of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of SSU, tells about the pedagogical dynasty, the outstanding scientist Nikolai Petrovich Kuptsov, and the amazing intertwining of the destinies of his loved ones.
father – famous mathematician nikolai kuptsov
N.P. Kuptsov worked as the head of the Department of Computational Mathematics of the Mehmat, was the scientific director of the Computing Center of SSU, vice-rector for scientific work.
Nikolai Petrovich spent the first years of his life in the village of Ivanovka, Saratov region. Since 1929, he lived in Saratov, where he graduated from high school. At the age of 17, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Saratov University. Having passed the external exams in one course, N.P. Kuptsov graduated from the university in 1946.
Nikolai Petrovich was greatly influenced by his uncle Nikolai Vasilyevich Rychagov, a mathematics teacher and director of a school in the village of Ivanovka. It was largely thanks to him that Nikolai Petrovich chose the profession of a mathematician and teacher.
After graduating from the university, Nikolai Petrovich worked as a computer scientist at S.P. Korolev's enterprise in Moscow. However, instead of the required three years, Nikolai Petrovich worked much less – one of the employees let him go so that he could enter graduate school at Moscow University.
In graduate school, Nikolai Petrovich's supervisor was Professor of Moscow State University, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Dmitry Evgenievich Menshov. Outstanding mathematicians studied with N.P. Kuptsov: Vadim Ivanovich Bityukov is the head of the mathematics editorial office of the publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia", Sergey Borisovich Stechkin is a professor at Moscow State University, an employee of the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
"Sergey Borisovich came to Saratov almost every year to recruit graduate students. There was even such a term in the Mathematical Institute – the Saratov mafia. Many graduates of Saratov University studied and worked there, including students of Nikolai Petrovich," says Sergey Nikolaevich.
In 1949, N.P. Kuptsov defended his PhD thesis on the topic: "On some problems of the theory of functions related to the classification of sets of measure zero." 20 years later, at Moscow State University, Kuptsov will defend his doctoral thesis "Direct and inverse theorems of the theory of approximations in Banach spaces and Fourier expansion".
After completing his postgraduate studies, in 1949 N.P. Kuptsov returned to Saratov University as a senior lecturer at the Department of Mathematical Analysis. In 1957, he became an associate professor of the Department of Mathematical Analysis, and two years later he headed the new Department of Computational Mathematics of the Mehmat. N.P. Kuptsov taught courses in mathematical analysis, equations of mathematical physics, theory of functions of a real variable, functional analysis. In addition, he has developed several special courses and special seminars to train specialists in modern areas of applied mathematics.
Nikolai Petrovich participated in the creation of the first public Computing Centre in the Volga region. Later, he became the scientific director of the VC, replacing Professor G.P. Boev in this position. The first computer in the Center was the Ural, installed in 1959. In the early 60s, Kuptsov was elected president of the Ural Users Association. The computing center helped solve the problems of enterprises in Saratov and other cities, trained specialists in the specialty "Computational Mathematics".
N.P. Kuptsov made a great contribution to the development of mathematical analysis, his scientific school enjoys prestige at home and abroad. He was the head of the joint scientific seminar of the Departments of Mathematical Analysis, Differential Equations and Applied Mathematics, Computational Mathematics, Theory of Functions and Approximations. Among his students are thirteen candidates and six doctors of sciences: A.P. Khromov, N.I. Chernykh, V.I. Shevchenko, V.M. Guryanov, A.P. Terekhin, G.V. Khromova.
According to the head of the Department of Differential Equations and Applied Mathematics, August Petrovich Khromov, Nikolai Petrovich's erudition "amazed and admired, his authority and respect for him were enormous, his approval of any scientific result was highly appreciated."
"Nikolai Petrovich was an erudite person not only in the mathematical field. He knew many interesting facts from the history of mathematics, biographies of famous mathematicians, from the history of Russia and Saratov. He was an excellent storyteller, and often the meetings of the Department of Computational Mathematics ended with a story by Nikolai Petrovich on one or another improvised topic. The conversation continued on the way home, and sometimes, listening to him, a group of employees accompanied him all the way home.
A man of intellectual activity, Nikolai Petrovich, surprisingly, was able, as they say, to “work with his hands”: he could fix a damaged device, and at home he had a lathe, on which he loved to work. In general, whatever business he was doing, he did it without fuss, thoroughly and with love," August Khromov recalled.
Sergei Nikolaevich was greatly influenced by his uncle, Leonid Petrovich Kuptsov. In 1961, he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Saratov University, and from 1961 to 1964 he studied at the graduate school of the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Until 2015, Leonid Petrovich worked at the Department of Higher Mathematics of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology as an assistant, senior lecturer, associate professor. For several years Leonid Petrovich taught at the graduate school of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after Professor N.E. Zhukovsky.
the arkhangelskiy family
The future wife of Nikolai Petrovich Irina Pavlovna Arkhangelskaya entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in 1941. In 1945, the faculty was divided into two: physics and Mechanics and Mathematics. Irina Pavlovna graduated from the Faculty of Physics, and Nikolai Petrovich graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics, but in one year.
When Leningrad University was evacuated to SSU, one of the classmates of Sergei Nikolaevich's parents was Guriy Ivanovich Marchuk, the future president of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Irina Pavlovna worked as an assistant at the Polytechnic Institute at the Department of Physics. Her parents were also teachers.
Mother Elena Petrovna Arkhangelskaya taught at the pedagogical college (now Saratov Regional Pedagogical College). Primary school teacher Sergei Nikolaevich Kuptsova was a student of Elena Petrovna.
Father Pavel Veniaminovich Arkhangelsky worked as an associate professor at the Saratov Pedagogical Institute. He grew up in the village of Krakow, Samara province, in the family of a village priest and was the only one in the family who did not follow in his father's footsteps. He graduated from a theological seminary and wanted to go to university, but Russian universities required a gymnasium education. Then in 1908 Pavel Veniaminovich entered the historical department of the Historical and Philological Faculty of the University of Warsaw. There he met A.P. Skaftymov – Arkhangelsk and the future famous philologist were engaged in the same seminar.
After completing the course, Pavel Veniaminovich taught at various educational institutions in Samara. He came to Saratov in 1937 at the invitation of A.P. Skaftym, who already worked as dean of the Faculty of Russian Language and Literature at the Saratov Pedagogical Institute. However, P.V. Arkhangelsky did not work at the pedagogical Institute for long, and in the same year he was repressed.
The family of Sergei Nikolaevich Kuptsov's father is also connected with the Skaftymovs.
"Dad's parents were peasants from the village of Ivanovka in the Bazarno-Karabulak district. Both my grandfather and grandmother had very large families and had many children. And there was a priest in the village who gave two grandmother's sisters the same names. I remember from childhood: one is Dusya, and the other is Dunyasha. So this pop hooligan was the father of Alexander Skaftym - Pavel Ilyich Skaftym. That's how interestingly the parental destinies crossed," says Sergey Nikolaevich.
Student Since school days
The Kuptsov family had a rich home mathematical library. "At that age, when I still had no idea what was in these books, I read their titles, the names of the authors, and they were already familiar to me – I saw them, although what it was about, what it mattered, I did not understand. Later, I was given popular science books, including those on mathematics, and I studied them as a schoolboy. There were the names of scientists whom I was already familiar with from the spines of books from the home library," recalls Sergey Nikolaevich.
S.N. Kuptsov studied at the famous school No. 19 (now Gymnasium No. 1). "I got into the most outstanding graduation of the school," says Sergey Nikolaevich. "No other graduation in the entire history of the school has given such a number of employees of the mehmat. I studied with future heads of departments: L.Y. Kossovich, S.I. Dudov, V.A. Yurko, V.A. Molchanov."
At school, Sergey Nikolaevich was always happy to solve mathematical problems. For three years, from 8th to 10th grade, Sergey Nikolaevich studied at the junior mathematical school at the Mehmat.
"Classes at the faculty were held just like students: lectures and practices. Twice a year, as students, there was a session. However, we took one test and one exam – I still have a record book. Three years is a long time, so when I came to study at the university, it was very easy for me. The lecture-seminar system was familiar to me. All this was familiar to me, although there was a difference, of course."
first pedagogical experience
At the university, the scientific supervisor of S.N. Kuptsov was his father's student, professor of the Department of Differential Equations and Mathematical Economics A.P. Khromov. The student wrote one of the term papers with V.F. Yemelyanov, who also had a great influence on Sergei Nikolaevich.
"We have many wonderful teachers. Alexey Ivanovich Barabanov, Head of the Department of Mathematical Analysis, gave lectures to us. I was very fond of Alexey Kondratievich Pavlyuchuk, who taught us higher algebra. A man who went through the war, a man who was in captivity. He never liked to remember it, but one of his colleagues said that when he was released, he weighed 37 kilograms.
The lectures were given by Professor Alexander Evgenievich Lieber, Associate Professor of the Department of Geometry Albert Vladimirovich Gokhman, one of my favorite teachers Vladislav Fedorovich Yemelyanov. They all taught admirably. I probably took something from each of them in my teaching practice, but I can't read like each of them. A lot depends on character and personal qualities here."
Back at school, S.N. Kuptsov studied in mathematical circles of the mehmat, where he solved Olympiad problems. When he was in his 1st year, the head of the Department of Mathematical Analysis, Alexey Ivanovich Barabanov, invited him to join the circle as a curator. The classes were taught by teachers or graduate students, and undergraduate students helped them.
Sergey Nikolaevich got his first teaching experience in the summer, after the 2nd year, when an older friend persuaded him to work as a teacher at preparatory courses for applicants. The skills of working with schoolchildren were useful to S.N. Kuptsov during his pedagogical practice at his native 19th school and in the 90s, when he was a regular teacher at Gymnasium No. 4.
In graduate school, S.N. Kuptsov conducted practical classes on a par with teachers. After graduation, Sergey Nikolaevich was assigned to teach at the Saratov Polytechnic Institute for 3 years. The workload could reach 40 hours per week.
In 1977, S.N. Kuptsov returned to the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics and has been teaching at the faculty ever since. Sergey Nikolaevich was a senior lecturer at the Departments of Mathematical Analysis and Theory of Functions and Approximations. Since 1997, he has been teaching at the Department of Differential Equations and Mathematical Economics. Sergey Nikolaevich's sons also graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics.
Chardym robinson
When asked which of the students is remembered most often, Sergey Nikolaevich answers: "Chardym." S.N. Kuptsov has been vacationing at the SSU sports and recreation camp with his parents since 1955, and has not missed a single race since 1978.
Having passed the session ahead of schedule after the 1st year, Kuptsov went to the island in advance to set up camp. The working day was equal to a day of light. In ten days, four students, including Leonid Yurievich Kossovich, set up twenty ten-person tents, helped build a kitchen and dining room.
After the 3rd year, Sergey Nikolaevich built the first house and the first bathhouse in the camp. His children and grandchildren grew up in Chardym, and now his great-grandchildren are growing up.
"We are Volgarians. In 1964, Dad bought a boat-a “party". And in 1977, for the fee he received for editing the book “Elements of functional Analysis” by L.A. Lyusternik and V.I. Sobolev, the boat “Kazanka – 5”, which still serves me. And the first dean of the Faculty of Mechanics, Georgy Petrovich Boev, had almost the first motor boat in Saratov. I was taken to her when I was little. There is a photo taken on the island of Pokrovsky Sands, where I am sitting and turning something out of a pot. My parents told me that I ate a sterlet's ear from a sterlet that was immediately caught. I continue to go on Dad's boat now, we need to prepare it for launching."
favourite professor
This semester, S.N. Kuptsov teaches mathematical analysis to students of 141 mehmat groups. They shared their impressions of the lessons with Sergey Nikolaevich:
"Sergey Nikolaevich is a kind, sympathetic person who will always help you figure out the task. He is very calm, we have never seen him annoyed. Sergey Nikolaevich is a very sincere teacher," Arina Stankevich and Victoria Yesayan note.
"He is very kind, speaks slowly, so that you have time to assimilate the information, explains the slightest details. In general, it gives the impression of a person who loves what he does and commands respect. I don't even want to miss a couple of them," says Maria Semenova.
"The teacher is wonderful. It was on his pairs that I realized what mathematical analysis is. All the material explains clearly and in detail. I want to go to Sergei Nikolaevich even for the first couple at 8:20 in the morning. I voted for him at the "Favorite Teacher" competition," says Alina Melnikova.
"He is very patient and always lets you rewrite the tests, even if it is 5 times. Sergey Nikolaevich is a good teacher with extensive experience, a person who is not devoid of a sense of humor," says Alexandra Burova.
No one is left indifferent by the humorous performances of Sergei Nikolaevich at the annual holiday – the Day of the Mehmat, which is celebrated on April 1. On one of the holidays, Sergei Nikolaevich read his poem in the style of "Harmful advice" by Grigory Oster. On April 1, it became a tradition for Sergey Nikolaevich to share harmful advice with students:
If you need it in a week
I have to take the exam,
And the weather outside
And he whispers: "Take a walk!",
I made an unambiguous choice.
More notes will be waiting,
Well, youth is only once
We get through it.
And when the examiner
He will start asking questions
About limits, integrals
And other nonsense,
You will say: "Without a lawyer
I'm not going to answer."
The teaching methodology for Sergey Nikolaevich is something that cannot be formulated. In 1975, at a lecture at Moscow State University by Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, head of the Department of Probability Theory of the Moscow State University Mehmat, a graduate of the Physics and Technology department of the Pedagogical Faculty of Saratov University, Kuptsov remembered the words of a mathematician that one teaching method, especially in higher education, does not exist, each teacher has his own.
What is S.N. Kuptsov's teaching style? "I can't explain it," Sergey Nikolaevich replies. – I just had very good teachers. I learned to teach by looking at them. The profession of a teacher is learned in the process of communicating with schoolchildren, students and colleagues. You just have to respect the students and love your profession. It is always a pleasure for a teacher to see that the person you are teaching has managed to do something. That's the most important thing."
Text by Polina Gromova,
Photos by Polina Gromova, Varvara Romanova, and from the interviewee’s archive
Translated by Lyudmila Yefremova
