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| In Memoriam of Professor Petraq Pilika |
 Academic Petraq Pilika
(1924-2009)
On April 07, 2009 an academic, a People’s Teacher, an Honor Citizen of Korça, one of the most well-known scientific personalities in Albania, the founder of the complete mathematics higher education, the initiator and organizer of mathematical scientific researches in our country, Prof. Pilika passed away.
Prof. Pilika was born in Korça on June 03, 1924. He studied for eight years in the well-known lyceum of this city; it was one of the best schools of the time. He was always among the best students of the lyceum with an inclination for math and the natural sciences. Prof. Pilika’s math gift got the attention of Raqi Qirinxhi, a very talented and qualified teacher. It was this teacher that became young Pilika’s ideal role-model and had a powerful influence enhancing Pilika’s character with high human and moral values. Pilika regarded Raqi, who became a martyr in 1944, very highly and expressed an extraordinary admiration towards him till the very last moments of his life.
Pilika was still a student at the lyceum during the fascist occupation which he suffered and despised immensely. He participated in all the demonstrations even though he was young; his active and very frequent involvement exposed him to the repressive instances of the invader. He was forced into an illegal lifestyle very early on in life. During the War, Pilika carried out difficult and important missions assigned to him by the partisans who valued his bravery and agility, his sharp mind and calmness, his spirit of sacrifice.
After the liberation, climbing in the hierarchy of power and authority would have been very easy for Pillika, but this didn’t tempt him. He much preferred continuing his higher education in order to achieve his dream; dedicate himself to mathematics.
He started his studies in 1945 in the famous Mehmat, the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics at the University of Moscow. The life of intense studying and science at the Mehmat was the perfect environment in which Pilika’s potential could flourish. He took advantage of the warm atmosphere of communication built during the first years after the war among faculty and students at this Department. The scientific seminars had a wide selection and it was in these seminars that one could feel the beating pulse of real scientific research. Pilika systematically attended the seminars of some of mathematics greatest minds, Kollmogorov, Kurosh, Menshov and he was noticed by them due to his diligence and interest in the field. He worked with Menshov the longest, and this latter one agreed with pleasure to be Pilika’s guide for his diploma thesis’ which was regarding the Theory of complex variable functions. The thesis was highly evaluated for its originality in some new ideas. Pilika seized the opportunities presented to him and used them to form a solid mathematical culture with a wide spectrum which would serve him as the foundation of his successful scientific activity.
In 1951, after his return from Moscow, Pilika was assigned both Chief of the first Rostrum of Mathematics and Physics of the 4-year Teaching Institute and Dean of this newly established Institute. He had a clear vision and insisted that our mathematical higher education be built on current standards of the time with the focus to reach the level of analogue institutions in advanced countries with consolidated tradition and experience. Pilika was opposed to the idea of simplifying the curriculum in order to facilitate the quick qualification of math teachers with the pretext that the country was in great need for them.
Pilika lectured and prepared the textbooks of a large number of disciplines at the Institute and the merit goes to him for creating these disciplines first structures in our auditoriums. It was under his guidance that the first methodical and scientific seminar of mathematics was organized at the Institute. It served the purpose of treating the teaching curriculum at the right level and also training the higher education’s lecturers. The certification of Prof. Pilika’s work presented itself in the form of the quality product graduated from the Department of Mathematics and Physics.
In 1957, the University of Tirana was founded and Pilika was assigned Chief of the Mathematics Rostrum at the Department of Natural Sciences, which covered all mathematical disciplines of the University. It was imperative at this time for the Rostrum to lay the foundations of scientific research, a component that is vital to such an institution. Prof Pilika assessed the qualification of the staff and drafted the first short-term strategy for mathematical research which was supported by a corresponding plan for post-graduate qualifications. The Rostrum had an intense scientific start under the guidance of Prof. Pilika. Its results were quick to come and the first mathematical works were [published in 1958.
Pilika and his serious commitment to research was an inspiration. He had meanwhile started his graduate studies in the Constructive Theory of Functions at the University of Moscow under the guidance of Prof. Nikolski. His chosen line of research was a delicate matter; discovering the bordering classes of an important range of functions. Pilika was successful in handling it by processing a new, bendable apparatus which he used in his studies and fine methods to establish with razor-cut precision the wanted border. On June 03, 1961 Pilika presented his dissertation in front of the mathematics elite of the University of Lomonosov. It was a full-blown success and the presentation went down in history as one of the shortest lasting ones. The cold atmosphere between the two countries (Albania and the Soviet Union) did not stop the participants from express their great respect and regard for the Albanian student.
The broken relationship with the Soviet Union and the majority of the ex-socialist camp countries, except for China, the self-isolation especially in the cultural and scientific exchanges with the West, created a new situation which was definitely a negative force in the further scientific development of our country. Despite these circumstances, Prof. Pilika’s astute mind, force of logic, clear vision and organizational abilities secured an almost-normal development of the mathematical education and scientific research. The change of perspective in politics enforced a great change in the established strategy composed by Pilika as it relied also in the foreign scientific help, especially that of the Mehmat of Moscow. Prof. Pilika insisted and worked on a two-way ‘political channel’; such work had its toll, mostly time-consumption, on the scientific research. First, he used up all his credits to send the decision-makers in the government his suggestions of rational elements in the scientific politics which once included in the curriculum documents were used as an argument for the prosperity of the mathematical development of our country. Second, Prof. Pilika requested to be reflected upon, when given the opportunity, a possible antidote that would be ‘acceptable by the ideology’ and would minimize the negative effects of the irrational political interventions. This tactic was successful in that kept mathematics ‘safe’ from the insane momentums of that time period. The merit for it goes to Prof. Pilika.
In the more practical sense, Prof. Pilika suggested a greater diversity in the mathematical areas paying close attention to the applied mathematics. He also suggested a more organized qualification process for the elite contingent of mathematics, mastering the new calculation technique and the formation of its formal structures. The progress up till 1961 under the guidance of Prof. Pilika had been really successful. A set of qualified people that could guarantee the anticipated development had been created. The absence of such a ‘critical set ‘would have led to unavoidable degradation. The main objective at the Rostrum became the qualification of the faculty in detailed concentration. A new rostrum was founded with the main focus in applied mathematics, which also included the five-year branch of mathematics that would offer a more profound qualification to the best contingent of students. Meanwhile, the work for the foundation of the Center for Calculating Mathematics (CCM) had started and in all of the above, Prof. Pilika’s contribution has always been key. He faced with dignity all the oppositions and attacks of the people vested in power who called the five-year branch a ‘luxury’ and the CCM a potential channel of penetration for the foreign bourgeois influence especially in economy. Prof. Pilika never gave in to these pressures because he was certain the work he was doing was benefitting the prosperity of the country.
The mathematical advancement rhythm was accelerating. From 1975 to 1984, the mathematical scientific production was five times higher than that from 1961 to1975; this according to the balance sheets generated from the two National Mathematics Conferences in 1984 and 1989, which were organized under the guidance of Prof. Pilika.
Another item worth-mentioning in the long list of Prof. Pilika’s successes is the establishment of leader selection based on merits. Prof. Pilika gathered around him capable people who demonstrated to fulfill precise and strict criteria. He dares to sweep aside certain outside-of-science norms in hiring new staff just like he dared to advance the most talented people and to help the young generation establish their own scientific personality by expanding their horizons, demanding their dedication, honesty, quality of work and perfection. He had faith in people and their abilities and this is why everybody tried very hard not to disappoint him.
Prof. Pilika was always careful to discover the new talents in mathematics early on. He was the initiator for the organization of the National Mathematics Olympiad, a project that became reality in the second half of the seventies. Other natural sciences disciplines followed the example of mathematics after a few years.
As a professor, Prof. Pilika represented an ideal role model for all of those who that attended his unforgettable lectures in Tirana or Prishtina. He was passionate, powerful, and never flat. He would get enthused over a fine and beautiful idea. His absent-minded moments as he would ponder upon fundamental matter are almost proverbial. Prof. Pilika was a born artist of teaching, in the sense that the famous George Polya gives to this didactic aspect.
As a researcher, Prof Pilika achievements were recognized internationally. His works have been published in ‘Doklladi Akademii Nauk SSSR’ magazine; they have had special mentioning in a panoramic refer at the International Symposium in Netherlands at the end of the Sixties; they have been considered very valuable during the lectures Prof. Pilika gave at the University of Prishtina, that of Skopje and Alger. He received many invitations from other universities such as that of Barcelona which he had to turn down due to a serious accident he had.
Prof. Pilika has represented Albania with great dignity in the international arena. He represented us in the scientific forum of the International Institute of Dubnos (1957-1961), as the head of the Albanian delegation in the Conference of Bucuresti for the re-founding of the Balkans Union of Mathematics (1965), as head of the negotiating delegation to meet with the Chinese Academy of Science (1966), head of our participating teams in the World Congresses of Mathematics (Nice, 1970 and Helsinki, 1978) or as member of other delegations. Prof. Pilika has left a deep impression on his foreign collegues due to his professional abilities, broad culture, force of character and intellectual charm in dialog.
He has been the recipient of medals of War Orders, Work Orders and The Naim Frashëri Order of First Class. The president of the republic has accorded Prof. Pilika the highly honorable title of Great Master of Work (2004).
Prof. Pilika maintained a crisp intellect till the very last days of life and kept in touch with his colleagues and students even after retiring in 1991.
Prof. Pilika’s name was a legend in Albanian mathematics during his lifetime and it will eternally remain such in the memory of future generations. His precious work is now part of our scientific national treasure.
Aleko Minga
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