Ivan Sleszynski graduated from Odessa University in 1875. He then travelled to Germany where he studied under Weierstrass at the University of Berlin, receiving his doctorate in 1882. Returning to Odessa, he became professor of mathematics there from 1883 to 1909.
Sleszynski left Odessa and went to Poland where he was appointed to the University of Cracow in 1911. He continued to work at Cracow until he retired in 1924.
Sleszynski's main work was on continued fractions, least squares and axiomatic proof theory based on mathematical logic.
In 1898 A Pringsheim proved that the condition
| bn | ≥ | an | + 1, an ≠ 0, n ≥ 1,
insures the convergence of the continued fraction K(an/bn), where an and bn are complex numbers; a result now known as the Pringsheim criterion. W J Thron states in [4] that this result was established ten years earlier by Sleszynski. Thron demonstrates that Pringsheim was aware of Sleszynski's work, though Pringsheim himself claims that he only became aware of Sleszynski after his article was completed.
Six papers by Sleszynski on continued fractions are discussed in [4] where a complete bibliography of Sleszynski's mathematical papers is given. His work on continued fractions is also discussed in [2].
We end this brief biography by giving the following quote by Sleszynski:-
The point of civilization is the exchange of ideas. And where is this exchange, if everybody writes and nobody reads?
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
July 2007