Brief History of Conference

In 1973, after I.G.Petrovskii's death, a seminar on differential equations and mathematical physics named after him was organized at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow M.V.Lomonosov State University. O.A.Oleinik, V.I.Arnold, S.P.Novikov, and M.I.Vishik became the organizers of this seminar.

Five years later, in 1978, the first joint seminar session together with Moscow Mathematical Society took place. Mathematicians from Moscow and other USSR cities gave about 60 talks. In 1979 it was decided that the conference would be held annually, the mathematicians were impressed by the high quality of the talks and highly appreciated the opportunity of personal informal contacts. The number of lectures increased from year to year and foreign mathematicians also were invited. In 1991, the year of Petrovskii's ninetieth anniversary, a large international conference took place, that year not in January, but in May. About 200 lectures were given and mathematicians from 9 countries were present. The next conference in 1993 (the XV-th joint seminar session) was smaller because of financial difficulties, but in 1996 the year of the 95-th anniversary of I.G.Petrovskii, again there were about 200 talks and foreign participants gave forty of them.

The most representative Conference was held in May 2001 in Memory of the Centenary anniversary of I.G.Petrovskii (XX-th meeting). More then 600 mathematicians from different countries took part in the Conference. Ten sections were organized in parallel way, on which there were 5 Plenary lectures, 30 Key lectures and more then 500 sectional talks.

Many outstanding mathematicians from different countries have taken a part in the conference. Organizing Committee plans in future to hold Conference dedicated to I.G.Petrovskii once in each 2 years.