埃蒙·德·瓦莱拉Éamon de Valera

埃蒙·德·瓦莱拉的父母是Juan Vivion 德·瓦莱拉，一位从古巴移民来的雕塑家，以及Catherine Coll，一位移民到美国的爱尔兰人。他出生于曼哈顿中城，生命的最初两年半在美国由父亲、母亲和雇来的看护Mrs Doyle照料。此后，他的舅舅Patrick Coll将他带到位于Limerick郡Bruree的家中。仅仅三年多后，德·瓦莱拉开始接受初等教育，就读于Bruree National School。他在这里度过了八年，至少有一年由弗瑞兹·约翰 Kelly任教。Kelly被描述为[14]：-

……年轻的教师和杰出的数学家，给他的著名学生留下了深刻印象。

尽管当时初等教育是免费的，但大多数中等教育是收费的。由于德·瓦莱拉的家庭是劳动者，私立学校的费用超出了他们的能力。在生活和教育上取得进步的最佳方式是就读基督教兄弟会学校（C.B.S.），这些学校为‘人们，不论社会地位，提供高等教育的机会’，以期赢得展览或奖学金，使学生能够进入一所私立中等教育机构。

德·瓦莱拉于1896年在Charleville C.B.S.开始接受中等教育，次年他成功赢得了一项价值20英镑、可保留三年的奖学金。他取得的成是在所修全部科目中均以优异成绩通过，即：希腊语、拉丁语、英语、法语、算术、欧几里得和代数。他于1898年被都柏林的布莱克罗克学院录取，并被描述为“数学狂人”。这使他的希腊语老师约翰 Maguire, CSSp极为恼火，以至于他命令德·瓦莱拉在他的数学练习本上写一个希腊语句子。当德·瓦莱拉抗议说他有专门的希腊语练习本时，Maguire反驳道[6]：-

年轻人，照吩咐去做。在那荒凉可憎之物中，至少保留一点基督教精神！

然而，并非所有老师都持Maguire对数学的看法，他的算术老师Tim O'丹尼斯·苏利文激励他，使他成为班上第一名。他还在欧几里得中名列第一，当所有成绩汇总后，发现德·瓦莱拉在班上排名最高，赢得了年度学生。考虑到他的同学包括约翰 D'Alton，未来的爱尔兰首席主教，以及杰出的O'Rahilly兄弟，两人都在学术领域卓有成就，Tomás成为都柏林高等研究院（DIAS）凯尔特研究学院的第一任院长，Alfred成为科克大学学院（UCC）数学物理学教授，后来成为该学院的注册主任和院长，这是一项了不起的成就，因为标准特别高。

此时，爱尔兰皇家大学举行公开考试，这意味着学生可以参加考试，而不论其是否上过大学。因此，一些中等教育机构，如布莱克罗克，决定为学生提供高等教育培训。当德·瓦莱拉完成高级阶段并成功入学后，他进入布莱克罗克大学学院，打算攻读数学和数学物理学位。在最后一年，他收到了在布莱克罗克的姊妹学院——蒂珀雷里郡罗克韦尔的学院任教的邀请，并接受了。据报道，德·瓦莱拉是一位非常有才华的教师，因此，他被委托教授高级阶段学生和本科学位学生，尽管他仍需完成自己的学位！繁重的教学负担使他几乎没有时间学习，因此，他不得不满足于及格学位。他于1904年毕业，之后在都柏林三一学院参加了一段时间的研究生讲座。

这使他进一步深造变得困难；然而，他受益于都柏林大学学院（UCD）讲师Arthur Conway和亨利·麦克威尼的公开讲座，以及皇家天文学家埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克的讲座。在遇到Conway之后，德·瓦莱拉对四元数的兴趣开始增长。他开始深入研究它们，Conway报告说[17]：-

……他[德·瓦莱拉]在过去两年[1910-1912]深入研究了四元数主题，目前正在其中进行一项重要的原创研究，有望引起相当大的兴趣。

在此期间，德·瓦莱拉受聘于都柏林几所顶尖学校，教授高等数学和数学物理课程。无需申请，他就获得了在卡里斯福特教师培训学院讲授数学的职位。这是一所全女性的第三级机构，致力于培养女孩成为小学教师。由此，以及他与Conway和埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克的友谊，德·瓦莱拉的信心增长了，他于1912年申请了科克大学学院的数学物理讲席。埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克写的一封推荐信将德·瓦莱拉的知识描述为既“广博又深厚”，此外，埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克写道他对[18]印象深刻：-

……他……对自然哲学中最困难的问题产生兴趣时所表现出的智力活力。

所有申请评估完毕后，管理机构进行了一次非正式投票，以决定他们将向爱尔兰国立大学（NUI）评议会推荐谁担任该职位。在这次投票中，德·瓦莱拉获得了11票，比最接近的竞争者E H Harper多两票。然而，在实际投票中，两人均获得10票，两人的名字连同最终投票结果一并提交。Harper当选为讲席教授，而德·瓦莱拉设法获得了在新成立的NUI认可的学院——基尔代尔郡梅努斯的圣帕特里克学院教授数学物理的职位。

德·瓦莱拉多年来一直是复兴爱尔兰语言的支持者。1913年，他加入了爱尔兰志愿者，这是一个反对英国统治的革命团体。该团体配备了1914年走私入境的德国武器。1916年，爱尔兰志愿者组织了复活节起义，在都柏林宣布爱尔兰共和国的诞生。由于德·瓦莱拉参与了这次起义，他对数学的正式学习停止了。起义很快被英国军队镇压，其领导人被判处死刑。部分由于德·瓦莱拉的美国出生，他免于处决。他被监禁，但于1917年获释。次年5月，他再次被捕并被送往英国监狱。尽管仍在狱中，他当选为新芬党主席，该党在1918年12月的选举中赢得了压倒性多数选票。

1919年2月，德·瓦莱拉从林肯监狱逃脱。在这样做时，他利用了自己的数学知识来帮助自己。

你可以在THIS LINK中了解更多相关信息。

在访问美国为爱尔兰共和事业寻求资金后，他回到了爱尔兰。1921年宣布停战，德·瓦莱拉开始说服众议院接受他对爱尔兰未来的提议。他使用数学方法来论证他认为各方都能接受的那种条约。

你可以在THIS LINK中了解更多相关信息。

然而，该条约仍需与英国政府谈判。1922年条约获得批准，成立爱尔兰自由邦时，德·瓦莱拉反对该条约，理由是它仍要求对英国宣誓效忠。随后，他领导了一场针对爱尔兰自由邦新政府的军事运动。他被爱尔兰自由邦政府监禁，但于1924年获释，之后他创立了共和党。1927年，德·瓦莱拉说服共和党成员进行效忠宣誓，以便他们能进入众议院。在那里，他们主张废除效忠宣誓，并反对向英国缴纳税款。共和党在1932年获得席位，并在工党支持下获得政权。De Valera开始了使爱尔兰从英国独立的过程。他于1937年提出了新宪法提案，创建了爱尔兰，取代爱尔兰自由邦。该宪法在全民公投中获得批准。

1948年，德·瓦莱拉因拒绝加入联合政府而失去政权。随后，他开始世界巡游，以争取对爱尔兰统一和独立的支持。1949年4月，英国承认其新地位，从而授予完全独立，但统一发生前需要北爱尔兰议会的同意。De Valera于1951年重新掌权，但在1954年未能获得足够支持以继续执政。然而，1957年3月，他再次获得总体多数。1959年，他辞去政府首脑和共和党领袖的职务，以便竞选总统。他当选总统，并于1966年连任。1973年，他退休到都柏林附近的一家疗养院，1975年在那里去世。

德·瓦莱拉对爱尔兰和国际数学最重要的贡献是1940年创立都柏林高等研究院（DIAS）。该研究院最初由两个学院组成，即凯尔特研究学院和理论物理学院，1947年增加了第三个学院，宇宙物理学院。这是德·瓦莱拉、他过去的教授Arthur Conway和埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克，以及当时最杰出的美国数学家乔治·戴维·伯克霍夫之间协商的结果。

在DIAS成立之前，德·瓦莱拉探索了聘请一位世界知名数学物理学家的可能性。拟议中的研究院将在这些男女的指导下，希望他们能在研究院成立后立即开始工作。最初提到的三个名字是Conway、埃尔温·薛定谔和埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克。还提到了马克斯·玻恩和阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦；然而，两人最近都接受了职位——马克斯·玻恩在爱丁堡，阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在普林斯顿。联系埃尔温·薛定谔，向他提供尚未成立的研究院职位，是一件秘密的事情。埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克在给德·瓦莱拉的信中写道，由于埃尔温·薛定谔被纳粹“非常厌恶”，任何直接联系他的尝试都会“受挫”，纳粹可能不是解雇他，而是杀死他。结果，埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克联系了德国物理学家马克斯·玻恩，后者又联系了他的同事贝尔教授，贝尔教授随后给他和埃尔温·薛定谔的共同朋友发了电报，这位朋友承诺尽可能与埃尔温·薛定谔会面。不到四个月后，即9月16日，收到埃尔温·薛定谔的来信，接受来爱尔兰的邀请。DIAS成立后，发现只有埃尔温·薛定谔能接受职位。Conway最近被任命为都柏林大学学院院长，而埃德蒙·泰勒·惠特克觉得由于第二次世界大战爆发，他不能离开大学职位。

在创立该研究所时，德·瓦莱拉希望爱尔兰能够[15]：-

……取得与上世纪中叶都柏林和爱尔兰所享有的声誉相当的声誉

根据前主任约翰·L·辛格的说法，情况似乎确实如此，他坚持认为[21]：-

……前学者在世界各地的讲席教授职位上任职，学校可以合理地感到自豪的是，爱尔兰在使自己受益的同时，为物理学做出了国际贡献。

DIAS的成立，除其他举措外，最终促成了德·瓦莱拉于1968年当选为伦敦皇家学会的名誉会士。

他一生都对数学保持着浓厚的兴趣，甚至在他担任总统期间（1959—1966），他的秘书Máire Ní Cheallaigh回忆道：-

……总统最大的遗憾是，他能用于数学的时间必然非常有限。不过，他时常阅读关于现代物理学的文章——原子粒子、量子动力学……总统把深绿色油毡铺在他位于Arus an Uachtarain [原文如此] 私人书房的大书桌桌面上，当作黑板，用粉笔在上面画几何图形，并推演那些他否则可能难以想象的代数表达式。

在此期间，德·瓦莱拉本已不佳的视力进一步恶化，使用深绿色油毡是他能够从事数学研究的唯一方式。退出政坛后，德·瓦莱拉的官方传记作者之一Néill写信给约翰·L·辛格，详细讲述了德·瓦莱拉对数学持续的兴趣。这封信的一段摘录如下：-

我[Néill]清楚地记得……按照医嘱，他只有在秘书给他读了一道他可以在散步时思考的数学题之后，才会同意去散步。事实上，我听到过他和她讨价还价！他会同意立刻去做一些不太愉快的杂事，比如回信或签名赠书等等，只要她之后愿意读一些数学内容。

Éamon de Valera's parents were Juan Vivion de Valera, a sculptor who had emigrated from Cuba, and Catherine Coll, an Irish immigrant to the United States. He was born in midtown Manhattan and spent the first two and a half years of his life in America under the care of his father, mother, and an employed minder, Mrs Doyle. Thereafter, his uncle Patrick Coll, brought him to the family home in Bruree, Co. Limerick. Just over three years later, de Valera began his primary level education by attending Bruree National School. He spent eight years here, and was taught by John Kelly for at least one year. Kelly was described as a [14]:-

... young teacher and a brilliant mathematician who made a great impression on his famous pupil.

At this time though primary education was free, most second level education was fee paying. As de Valera's family were labourers, the fees required for attending a private school were beyond their means. The best way for progressing in life and education was to attend one of the Christian Brothers Schools (C.B.S.) which provided 'people, irrespective of social status, the opportunities of a higher education' in the hope of winning an exhibition or scholarship which would enable a student to attend one of the private second level institutions.

De Valera began his second level education at Charleville C.B.S. in 1896 and the following year he successfully won an exhibition worth £20, retainable for three years. The results he obtained were a pass with honours in all the subjects he had taken, namely: Greek, Latin, English, French, Arithmetic, Euclid and Algebra. He was accepted in Blackrock College, Dublin in 1898, and he was described as a 'fanatic for mathematics'. This irked his Greek teacher, John Maguire, CSSp, to such an extent that he ordered de Valera to write a Greek sentence in his mathematics copybook. When de Valera protested saying he had a separate copy for Greek, Maguire rejoined [6]:-

You do as you are told, young man. Have at least one bit of Christianity in the midst of that Abomination of Desolation!

Not all of the teachers, however, held Maguire's opinion towards mathematics, and his arithmetic teacher, Tim O'Sullivan, inspired him to such an extent that he came first in his class. He was also placed first in Euclid, and when all results were combined it was discovered that de Valera ranked highest in the class, winning him Student of the Year. Considering his compatriots included John D'Alton, a future Primate of Ireland, and the illustrious O'Rahillys, both of whom distinguished themselves in the academic sphere, Tomás becoming the first director of the school of Celtic Studies in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and Alfred becoming Professor of Mathematical Physics in University College, Cork (UCC) and later Registrar and President of the same College, it was a good achievement, as the standards were particularly high.

At this time, the Royal University of Ireland held open examinations, which meant students could sit examinations irrespective of college attendance. As a result, some second level institutions, such as Blackrock, decided to offer third level training to students. When de Valera completed Senior Grade and had matriculated successfully, he entered University College Blackrock with the intention of pursuing a degree in mathematics and mathematical physics. In his final year, he received the offer, which he accepted, of teaching in Blackrock's sister College in Rockwell, Co. Tipperary. It was reported that de Valera was a very talented teacher, and therefore, he was entrusted with teaching both Senior Grade students and undergraduate degree students, though he still had to finish his own degree! The pressures of a full teaching load left him little time to study and as a result, he had to be contented with a pass degree. He graduated in 1904 and afterwards attended post-graduate lectures at Trinity College Dublin for a while.

This made further study difficult for him; however, he benefited from the public lectures given by University College Dublin (UCD) lecturers' Arthur Conway and Henry MacWeeney, and lectures given by the Astronomer Royal, E T Whittaker. After meeting Conway, de Valera's interest in quaternions began to grow. He began to study them in depth and Conway reported that [17]:-

... he [de Valera] has in the past two years [1910-1912] gone deeply into the subject of Quaternions, and is at present prosecuting an important original research in them which promises to be of considerable interest.

During this time, de Valera was engaged by several of the top Dublin schools to teach higher mathematics and mathematical physics classes. Without application, he was offered a post lecturing mathematics in Carysfort Teacher Training College. This was an all-female third level institution which was dedicated to preparing girls as primary teachers. Arising from this, and his friendship with Conway and Whittaker, de Valera's confidence grew and he applied for the Chair of Mathematical Physics in University College, Cork, in 1912. A reference, written by Whittaker, describes de Valera's knowledge as both 'broad and deep', and additionally, Whittaker wrote he was impressed by [18]:-

... the intellectual vigour with which he ... interested himself in the most difficult problems of natural philosophy.

After all the applications were assessed the Governing Body took a straw vote to decide whom they would recommend to the National University of Ireland (NUI) Senate for the position. In this vote de Valera secured 11 votes, two higher than the nearest competitor, E H Harper. However, in the actual vote they both scored 10 and the two names were sent along with the results of the final vote. Harper was elected to the chair, and de Valera managed to secure a post teaching mathematical physics in St Patrick's, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, a recognised College of the newly formed NUI.

De Valera had for many years been a supporter of reviving the Irish language. In 1913 he had joined the Irish Volunteers, a revolutionary group opposed to British rule. The group were armed with German weapons which had been smuggled into the country in 1914. In 1916 the Irish Volunteers organised the Easter Uprising which proclaimed the birth of the Irish Republic in Dublin. Due to de Valera's participation in this uprising, his formal study of mathematics stopped. The uprising was quickly put down by British forces and its leaders were sentenced to death. In part because of de Valera's American birth he escaped execution. He was imprisoned, but released in 1917. In May of the following year he was arrested again and sent to prison in England. Although still in prison, he was elected President of the Sinn Féin Party which won an overwhelming majority of the vote in December 1918.

In February 1919, de Valera escaped from Lincoln Prison. In doing so he used his mathematical knowledge to help him.

You can see more about this at THIS LINK.

After visiting the United States to seek funding for the Irish republican cause, he returned to Ireland. A truce was called in 1921 and de Valera began the process of persuading the Dáil to accept his proposals for the future of Ireland. He used a mathematical approach to argue for the type of treaty he thought would be acceptable to all sides.

You can see more about this at THIS LINK.

The treaty, however, still had to be negotiated with the British government. When the treaty was ratified in 1922 forming the Irish Free State, de Valera, opposed it on the grounds that it still required an oath of allegiance to Britain. He then led a military movement against the new government of the Irish Free State. He was imprisoned by the government of the Irish Free State but released in 1924 after which he founded the Fianna Fáil Party. In 1927 de Valera persuaded members of Fianna Fáil to take the oath of allegiance so they could enter the Dáil. There they argued to have the oath of allegiance abolished and argued against taxes payable to Britain. Fianna Fáil gained seats in 1932 and, with Labour support, gained power. De Valera began the process of making Ireland independent from Britain. He produced proposals for a new constitution in 1937 creating Eire in place of the Irish Free State. It was ratified in a referendum.

In 1948 de Valera lost power when he refused to enter a coalition. He then began a world tour to gain support for the unification and independence of Ireland. Full independence was granted when Britain recognised its new status in April 1949, but the consent of the Parliament of Northern Ireland was required before unification could occur. De Valera returned to power in 1951 but failed to gain sufficient support in 1954 to continue. However, in March 1957 he again achieved an overall majority. He resigned his role as head of the government and head of Fianna Fáil in 1959 so that he could stand for the presidency. He was elected president and reelected in 1966. He retired to a nursing home near Dublin in 1973 where he died in 1975.

The most important contribution de Valera made to mathematics both in Ireland and internationally was the foundation of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) in 1940. The institute initially consisted of two schools namely, the School of Celtic Studies and the School of Theoretical Physics, and in 1947 a third school, the School of Cosmic Physics, was added. It was the result of consultation between de Valera, his past professors Arthur Conway and E T Whittaker, as well as with the foremost American mathematician of the time, G D Birkhoff.

Before the foundation of DIAS, de Valera explored the possibility of securing the services of a world renowned mathematical physicist. The Institute, as proposed, would be under the guidance of these men or women who, it was hoped, would be able to begin in the Institute once it was established. The three names originally mentioned were Conway, Schrödinger, and Whittaker. Max Born and Albert Einstein were also mentioned; however, both had recently accepted positions - Born at Edinburgh and Einstein at Princeton. Contacting Schrödinger to offer him a position in the yet-to-be-established Institute was a cloak and dagger affair. Whittaker, in a letter to de Valera, wrote that since Schrödinger was 'much disliked' by the Nazis, any attempt to contact him outright would be 'frustrated', and that the Nazis, rather than dismiss him, might kill him. As a result, Whittaker contacted the German physicist, Max Born, who in turn contacted a associate of his, Professor Baer, who then telegraphed a mutual friend of his and Schrödinger's, who promised to meet Schrödinger if at all possible. Less than four months later on the 16th of September, a letter was received from Schrödinger accepting the offer to come to Ireland. Once DIAS was founded, it was discovered that only Schrödinger could accept a position. Conway had been recently made President of University College Dublin, and Whittaker felt he could not leave his university post due to the outbreak of World War II.

Upon founding the Institute, de Valera hoped that Ireland would [15]:-

... achieve a reputation comparable to the reputation which Dublin and Ireland had in the middle of the last century

which, it appears was the case according to former director, J L Synge, who maintained that [21]:-

... former scholars are to be found in chairs in many parts of the world, and the school may feel reasonably proud that Ireland has, with profit to herself, made an international contribution to physics.

The foundation of DIAS, among other acts, culminated in de Valera's election as an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1968.

Throughout his life, he maintained an avid interest in mathematics and even during his Presidency (1959-1966), his secretary, Máire Ní Cheallaigh, recounted:-

... the President's great regret is that the time he can devote to maths is necessarily very limited. However, he has read from time to time articles on modern physics -- atomic particles, quantum dynamics ... the president uses dark green linoleum, covering the top of his large desk in his private study here in Arus an Uachtarain [sic.], as a blackboard on which with chalk he draws geometrical figures and pursues such algebraical expressions as he might find difficult to visualize otherwise.

During this time de Valera's poor sight had deteriorated, and using dark linoleum was the only way he could practice mathematics. After he retired from politics, one of de Valera's official biographers, Néill, wrote to J L Synge detailing de Valera's continuing interest in mathematics. An extract from this letter reads:-

I [ Néill] can remember well ... the way in which he would agree to take a walk, on doctor's instructions, only when his secretary had read to him a mathematics problem which he could ponder over as he walked. Indeed I heard him bargain with her! He would agree to do at once some of the less agreeable chores of answering letters or autographing books etc. if she would read some mathematics afterwards.