Kerim Erim: His Academic Life and Mathematical Work

Kerim Erim (1894-1952) was a Turkish mathematician whose earlier life overlapped with the last decades of the Ottoman Empire, while the second half of his life coincided with the early decades of the Turkish Republic. A comparison of his works with those published by contemporaneous Turkish mathematicians, points to Kerim Erim’s prominence in the history of Turkish mathematics. The present article will first provide a revised biography of him, and then introduce his involvement in the Atatürk University Reformation of 1933 along with his activities in the Institute of Mathematics (Faculty of Science, Istanbul University). An examination of his research and papers in mathematics, the textbooks he wrote and the PhD theses prepared under his supervision help to disclose his prominent role in initiating and promoting research in applied mathematics and his efforts to revitalize mathematics education in Turkey. Current publications on Kerim Erim’s life, as well as mathematical books, newspapers and periodicals of his time, the institutional and personal archives have been researched in order to introduce Kerim Erim’s research and teaching in mathematics