Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro

Born on 12 January 1853 in Lugo in what is now Italy, Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro was a mathematician best known as the inventor of tensor calculus. Educated at home by private tutors, Ricci studied at the universities of Rome and Bologna before transferring to the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, an important center for mathematical research. After earning his doctorate in 1875, he won a fellowship to study at the Technische Hochschule in Munich. There Ricci attended courses by renowned German mathematician Felix Klein. In 1880 Ricci became a professor at the University of Padua, where he remained until his death in 1925. Ricci’s early work centered on mathematical physics, particularly the laws of electric circuits and differential equations. By 1900 Ricci had developed his famed theory of tensor calculus, an extension of vector calculus to tensor fields. He would continue to expand the theory with the help of one of his students, Tullio Levi-Civita. That theory later enabled Albert Einstein to develop his theory of general relativity . Einstein even traveled to Padua in 1921 to meet Ricci. Ricci received many honors and awards for his contributions to mathematical physics and was granted membership in several academies, including the Veneto Institute of Science, for which he served as president from 1916 to 1919. He was also active in politics and served as councilor for both his home town of Lugo and for Padua.

Date in History: 12 January 1853