Who was born first, Lev Pontryagin or Vladimir Levenshtein?
Lev Pontryagin Lev Semyonovich Pontryagin (Russian: Лев Семёнович Понтрягин , also written Pontriagin or Pontrjagin) (3 September 1908 – 3 May 1988) was a Soviet mathematician. He was born in Moscow and lost his eyesight due to a primus stove explosion when he was 14. Despite his blindness he was able to become one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, partially with the help of his mother Tatyana Andreevna who read mathematical books and papers (notably those of Heinz Hopf, J. H. C. Whitehead, and Hassler Whitney) to him. He made major discoveries in a number of fields of mathematics, including algebraic topology and differential topology.
Yuri Kondratyuk Yuriy Vasilievich Kondratyuk (real name Aleksandr Ignatyevich Shargei, Ukrainian: Олександр Гнатович Шаргей , "Oleksandr Hnatovych Sharhei") (June 21, 1897 – February 1942) was a Soviet engineer and mathematician. He was a pioneer of astronautics and spaceflight, a theoretician and a visionary who, in the early 20th century, developed the first known lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR), a key concept for landing and return spaceflight from Earth to the Moon. The LOR was later used for the plotting of the first actual human spaceflight to the Moon. Many other aspects of spaceflight and space exploration are covered in his works.