Page 144 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

študentov, Vakslja in Vidava. Ali je to izbira Fab- After World War II, Plemelj was in commu-
ra ali pa jih Plemelj v svojih pismih ne omenja, nist Yugoslavia, while Faber was in democratic
ni znano. West Germany. Their career paths were also sim-
Žal ne zvemo, o čem vse in na kakšen način ilar to a certain extent. At first, Plemelj had a dis-
je pisal Plemelj. Vse, kar zvemo, je odmev preko tinct advantage (awards for outstanding work),
Fabra. Je pa slednji duhovit in pogosto kar zaba- but then he distanced himself from his active
ven pisec. Včasih pa so novice, ki si jih izmen- colleagues at the University of Ljubljana. Plemelj
jujeta, žalostne. Name sta največji vtis naredili became rector in 1919, while Faber did not be-
sporočili, da je Fabrov zet, še leta 1942 ob poro- come rector until 1945/46. Faber remained at the
ki prepričan oficir nemške vojske, kasneje postal heart of world mathematics, while Plemelj was a
protestantski pastor. Žalostno pa je pismo iz leta loner among provincials.
1948, ko se Faber sprijazni z dejstvom, da je bil It is interesting that in their letters, the
144 njegov vpoklicani sin, ki je bil leta 1943 pogre- friends discuss outstanding mathematicians.
šan v Afriki, mrtev. Zanimivo je tudi poročanje More interesting than who Faber mentions is
Fabra, kaj se je dogajalo med prvo svetovno voj- who is missing. Faber does not mention any Slo-
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 1 / volume 13 (2025), number 1
no, med nacizmom v 30. letih in po vojni z nju- venian mathematicians, such as Vega, Močnik,
nimi skupnimi matematičnimi kolegi, predvsem Hočevar, or Zupančič. He does not even men-
s tistimi judovskega porekla. Usode so bile zelo tion Plemelj’s doctoral students: Vakselj and Vi-
različne. Faber je nasprotoval nacističnim pose- dav. Whether this is Faber’s choice or whether
gom v akademski svet, vključno z uveljavljanjem Plemelj does not mention them in his letters is
rasnih zakonov. unknown.
Faber in Plemelj sta pripadnika nesrečne ge- Unfortunately, we do not know what Ple-
neracije, ki je doživela obe svetovni vojni. Oba pa melj wrote about or how he wrote. All we know
sta doživela tudi vsak svoj totalitarizem. Dopiso- is what Faber tells us. Faber is a witty and of-
vanje v takih časih seveda ne more biti popolno- ten entertaining writer. Sometimes, however,
ma odprto. Podvrženo je bodisi odkriti cenzuri the news they exchange is sad. I was most im-
ali pa samocenzuri zaradi strahu pred tem, da bi pressed by the news that Faber’s son-in-law, who
z zapisanim škodoval sebi ali sogovorniku zaradi was a convinced officer in the German army at
vohljanja tajnih služb. the time of his marriage in 1942, later became a
Osetova knjiga v uvodnem delu prinaša tudi Protestant pastor. His letter from 1948 is sad, as
Plemljevo beležnico, v kateri so imena več kot Faber comes to terms with the fact that his con-
100 velikih matematikov. Tako je razviden Ple- scripted son, who went missing in Africa in 1943,
mljev matematični svet okoli leta 1912. V njem is dead. Faber’s account of what happened dur-
ni nobenega Balkanca. To seveda pomeni, da se ing the First World War, during Nazism in the
je zavedal, v kakšno matematično puščavo se od- 1930s and after the war, to their mutual math-
pravlja po koncu prve svetovne vojne. Iz sezna- ematical colleagues, especially those of Jewish
ma oseb na koncu Osetove knjige pa je razvidno, origin, is also interesting. Their fates were very
da Plemelj Fabru ni pisal o nobenem matemati- different. Faber opposed Nazi interference in ac-
ku iz teh krajev, tudi o Vidavu ne. Ne kaže, da ademia, including the enforcement of racial laws.
bi si Plemelj želel vzgajati slovenske raziskovalne Faber and Plemelj belonged to an unfor-
matematike. O tem pove sam, ko pravi, da je Vi- tunate generation that experienced both world
dava »odkril«, ne pa »vzgojil«. Ob doktoratu wars. Both also experienced their own form of
Vidava je bil star že 68 let. totalitarianism. Correspondence in such times
Veliko matematike se je naučil sam že v cannot, of course, be completely open. It is sub-
srednji šoli. Težki problemi elementarne mate- ject to either overt censorship or self-censorship
matike so ga zanimali vse življenje. Z nikomer, for fear that what is written could harm oneself