Page 146 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

matematika. Spoznamo Plemljevo mednarodno and so on to others. This is certainly not the way
matematično mrežo. Knjigo lahko vidimo tudi to save money.
kot pomemben kamen v mozaiku pionirskih ča- When we mathematicians are under much
sov Univerze v Ljubljani ter Slovenske akademi- stress, we generally react in one of two ways. We
je znanosti in umetnosti. Zanimivo je spoznanje, prefer to ignore real problems and immerse our-
kako narazen so si bili začetniki Univerze v Lju- selves again and again in the wonderful world
bljani glede na samostojnost Slovenije in kako of mathematics, where problems are more like
močno se je angažiral Plemelj na strani podpor- challenges than anything else. If we fail to do so,
nikov »integralnega jugoslovanstva«, kako si je the opposite can happen: we become numb and
želel Univerzo v Ljubljani kot »jugoslovansko« put mathematics and its problems on the back
in ne kot »separatistično slovensko«. Kaj dosti burner. This was Plemelj’s reaction during World
v tej smeri ni naredil, najbrž niti srbsko ni govo- War I.
146 ril. Je pa večkrat nasprotoval kolegom, ki so da- Oset’s book can be understood on multiple
jali prednost Sloveniji pred Jugoslavijo, še v 30. levels. Let us list just a few of them. On the one
letih jih je tožaril ministrom v Beogradu. Iz po- hand, we see in it the development of a mathe-
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 1 / volume 13 (2025), number 1
litičnih razlogov je npr. nasprotoval, da bi Izidor matical friendship over a very long period of
Cankar postal rektor Univerze v Ljubljani. Po- time, which, however, mostly takes place at a dis-
leg tega je iz osebnih razlogov pretirano vplival tance. On the other hand, we learn about the cir-
na usode nekaterih matematikov. cumstances in which they lived and worked as
Ko so ga nekoč vprašali, ali se talent za ma- geographically, politically and nationally sepa-
tematiko pogosto deduje na sina, je odvrnil: rated mathematicians. We learn about Plemelj’s
»To je redko; se pa talent pogosto deduje na international mathematical network. The book
zeta!« Kandidaturo za univerzitetnega profe- can also be seen as an important piece in the mo-
sorja Antona Vakslja, ki je pri njem doktoriral saic of the pioneering days of the University of
leta 1923, je podprl šele četrt stoletja kasneje in Ljubljana and the Slovenian Academy of Scienc-
mu tako močno otežil raziskovalno kariero. Po es and Arts. It is interesting to note how divid-
pripovedovanju nekaterih mojih profesorjev naj ed the founders of the University of Ljublja-
bi razlog za to na nek način zadeval Plemljevo na were regarding Slovenian independence and
hči. Še huje pa je bilo z Rihardom Zupančičem. how strongly Plemelj was committed to the sup-
Plemljev odnos do Zupančiča se je med obema porters of ‘integral Yugoslavism’, how he wanted
vojnama postopoma ohlajal, po drugi svetovni the University of Ljubljana to be ‘Yugoslav’ and
vojni pa je bil že sovražen. Koliko je šlo pri tem not ‘separatist Slovenian’. He did not do much
za osebne zamere, koliko pa za politično nestri- in this direction, probably not even speaking
njanje, ni jasno. Ko so po vojni zaradi političnih Serbian. However, he often opposed colleagues
pritiskov revolucionarne oblasti iz SAZU izklju- who gave preference to Slovenia over Yugosla-
čili štiri svoje člane, je Plemelj kar pozabil, da ga via, even complaining to ministers in Belgrade
je prav Zupančič v prvi svetovni vojni zaščitil about them in the 1930s. For political reasons,
pred odhodom na fronto. Žal je po letu 1996 os- for example, he opposed Izidor Cankar becom-
tal izključen le Zupančič. Vidav, ki je s Plemljem ing rector of the University of Ljubljana. Plemelj,
tesno sodeloval, je od svojega mentorja prevzel however, had an excessive influence on the fates
odnos do Riharda Zupančiča. Ob razpravi za of some mathematicians for personal reasons.
rehabilitacijo Riharda Zupančiča na SAZU, ki When Plemelj was once asked whether a talent
jo je leta 2001 predlagalo Društvo matemati- for mathematics was often passed on to sons, he
kov, fizikov in astronomov Slovenije (DMFA), replied, ‘That is rare; but talent is often passed
je temu odločno nasprotoval Ivan Vidav, ki je on to sons-in-law!’ He only supported the can-
navajal Plemljeve argumente. Nekateri odločno didacy of Anton Vakselj, who had obtained his