Kunihiko Kodaira (1915-1997), a knowledge seeker who opened the door to geometry

Kunihiko Kodaira (1915-1997), a knowledge seeker who opened the door to geometry

Kunihiko Kodaira made his mark on the history of mathematics as the first Japanese recipient of the Fields Medal for his innovative work in algebraic geometry and complex analytic geometry. After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University, he moved to the U.S. during the chaotic postwar period to deepen his research at Harvard University. Kodaira established the "Kodaira annihilation theorem," the "Kodaira embedding theorem," and other fundamental theories of algebraic geometry. This led to a dramatic advance in the study of complex manifolds and had a tremendous impact on mathematicians around the world.

In 1954, he was awarded the Fields Medal, which raised the international profile of Japanese mathematics. After returning to Japan, he trained many young mathematicians at the University of Tokyo, and also devoted himself to the popularization of mathematics, writing a book on "Complex Analytic Geometry", etc. He passed away in 1997, but his theories are still utilized in numerous researches and continue to contribute to the development of geometry.