Georgy Feodosevich Voronyi (Russian: Георгий Феодосьевич Вороной; Ukrainian: Георгій Феодосійович Вороний; 28 April 1868 – 20 November 1908) was an Imperial Russian mathematician of Ukrainian descent noted for defining the Voronoi diagram.[1][2]
Beginning in 1889, Voronyi studied at Saint Petersburg University, where he was a student of Andrey Markov. In 1894 he defended his master's thesis On algebraic integers depending on the roots of an equation of third degree. In the same year, Voronyi became a professor at the University of Warsaw, where he worked on continued fractions. In 1897 he defended his doctoral thesis On a generalisation of a continuous fraction. He was an Invited Speaker of the ICM in 1904 at Heidelberg.[3]
When he was only 40 years of age, Voronyi began having stomach problems. He wrote in his diary:[4]
I am making great progress with the question under study [indefinite quadratic forms]; however, at the same time my health is becoming worse and worse. Yesterday I had for the first time a clear idea of the algorithm in the theory of forms I am investigating, but also suffered a strong attack of bilious colic which prevented me from working in the evening and from sleeping the whole night. I am so afraid that the results of my enduring efforts, obtained with such difficulty, will perish along with me.
Following a severe gall bladder attack, Voronyi died on November 20, 1908.
Two-hryvnia coin commemorating the centenary of Voronyi
These tessellations are widely used in many areas of computer graphics, from architecture to film making and video games. Blender 3D includes a Voronoi texture generator as one of its main sources of randomly generated images, that can be applied as textures for many different uses.
^Matevossian, Edouard; Kern, Hans; Hüser, Norbert; Doll, Dietrich; Snopok, Yurii; Nährig, Jörg; Altomonte, Jennifer; Sinicina, Inga; Friess, Helmut; Thorban, Stefan (December 2009). "Surgeon Yurii Voronyi (1895-1961) - a pioneer in the history of clinical transplantation: in memoriam at the 75th anniversary of the first human kidney transplantation". Transplant International. 22 (12). Department of Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität of Munich, Munich, Germany.: 1132–1139. doi:10.1111/j.1432-2277.2009.00986.x. PMID19874569. S2CID12087935.
