Many remember Fr Augustine O Konnully as a man of genius. The mathematician who had served as the principal of St Albert’s College in Kochi, was the author of several world famous books, the best being ‘On the Self Polar Tetrahedra of Three Conicoids’. However, back at home, he remained the unassuming mathematician who would go on to create theorems of his own and found the Vector Multipliers, a very important concept regarding high dimensional space.
He would publish several authoritative papers in international journals like American Mathematical Monthly, Journal of London Mathematical Society, Academia Nazionie Dei Lincei (Italy), Beitra Zur Algebra and Geometrie (Germany) and The Journal of the Australian Mathematical Society. He also introduced a new concept in mathematics which holds the name Vector Multipliers. He was also awarded the first Ph. D. in Mathematics from Kerala University, at a time when this was the only university in Kerala.
Konnully, who completed his garduation from St Joseph’s College, Trichy, was mentored by the late Reverend Fr Charles Recine, a great mathematician himself. Konnully spend one year as a teacher at the St Albert’s School and then later joined the college in 1949. He became the principal of the college in 1973 from where he retired. Soon, he would appointed as UGC’s Professor Emeritus for five years. During this time, he spend a lot of his days authoring several books.
Some remark him to have been a man of many ideas which was very evident with the way he carried himself. “Many of his concepts are beyond our perceptions. This is how brilliant he was as a mathematician. We plan to conduct 32 series lectures on Konnully as part of his year-long centenary celebrations. The first event will be held at St. Albert’s College on his birth anniversary.
Konnully as teacher
Konnully spend one year as a teacher at the St Albert’s School and then later joined the college in 1949. He became the principal of the college in 1973 from where he retired. Soon, he would appointed as UGC’s Professor Emeritus for five years.