Raytcho Lazarov - 60

Abstract

in Kardjali, a town in the Rodopi mountains in Bulgaria.In 1961 he graduated as a top student in his class from Zlatograd High School and was immediately admitted to the Sofia University in a special program in mathematics.He impressed his professors Obreshkov, Tagamlitski, Iliev, and Petkanchin with his talent, hard work, and keen interest in applied mathematics.Consequently, in 1963 he was awarded a scholarship to continue his education in Poland.Raytcho graduated with a Master Degree in Mathematics from Wroclaw University in 1966.His teachers in Wroclaw were the well-known mathematicians Marczewski, Urbanik, Perkal, and Paszkowski who gave him a strong background in pure and applied mathematics and conveyed the excitement of the early steps of computer simulation and modern numerical analysis.After two years work as a mathematician at the Institute of Mathematics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Raytcho was awarded a national scholarship to pursue his graduate study at the Moscow State University.At the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics, he joined the group of Acad.A.A. Samarskii, a world leading scientific school in Numerical Analysis and Mathematical Modeling.Among his teachers at the Moscow State University, beside Samarskii, were the well-known mathematicians Bakhvalov, Tikhonov, Oleinik, and Vishik.At that time the Moscow State University was one the world's most exciting places for the study of natural sciences.Among the faculty members there were many well established pure mathematicians and a number of scientists who successfully participated in large-scale applied projects.This was the time when modern numerical analysis came into existence.Raytcho was able to benefit from the highly demanding and supportive atmosphere in Samarskii's school and from the work and discussions with his colleagues and friends Mokin, Meladze, Andreev, Belukhina, and Nikolaev.His model was his adviser A.A. Samarskii, a scientist of high caliber.In this challenging place Raytcho grew from a talented