Kostake Teleman - a great Romanian geometer

On December 24, 2007 our distinguished colleague and professor Kostake Teleman passed away. It is our duty, in these moments, to remember his life, his permanent and enthusiastic work, in the field of Education and Mathematics, a career which spanned over half a century. Kostake Teleman was born on May 19, 1933 in Bucharest. He graduated the primary school and ”Sfântul Sava” High School in Bucharest. As a pupil with an exceptional training he was a permanent correspondent and later a valuable fellow-worker at ”Gazeta Matematicǎ si Fizicǎ”. Kostake Teleman graduated the University of Bucharest, the Faculty of Mathematics in 1955. Immediately after that he became an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Geometry and Topology (Academician Gh. Vrǎnceanu was the Head of the Department at the time). He became a Lecturer and since 1967 he has been an Associate Professor. Professor K. Teleman tought, year after year, to generations of students systematic knowledge of Geometry, Differential geometry, Algebra, Algebraic geometry, General topology, Donaldson-Witten theory, Mechanics, Mathematical physics, Theory of relativity, Lie groups, Lie algebras, Foundations of geometry, Theory of curves, History of Mathematics. In addition, his clear and deep perspective on the development of Differential geometry was remarkable. His honesty and moral behaviour were outstanding, too. During his work within the Department, all his students were permanently stimulated and helped in their studies and profession. As a teacher, prof. K. Teleman was a model of correctedness, highly esteemed by both his colleagues in the Department and his students. Having a remarkable mathematical training and excellent pedagogical abilities, prof. K. Teleman was a known and valuable personality in the Romanian mathematical education. His courses had a direct impact on the improvement of teaching in the field of geometry at our Faculty, in the last three decades of the last century.